small dead animals

Memo To The Toronto Star Investigative Reporter

Sorry, keep looking.

You won't find it here.

A Bad Day To Be Ralph Goodale

CTV reports that the RCMP are going to investigate the now famous "Wednesday spike" in income trust trading.

I received this privately last night from a reader;

I work in one of the discount brokerage houses, so I think I might be able to add to the discussion on last week's announcement and the trading activity. One angle that no-one has looked at so far is any options trading that went on. They are the perfect tools for investors who are expecting a short term move on a stock and hope to translate that move into a large gain very quickly. If the pattern we've seen so far holds, there should have been a large spike in options trading on dividend paying stocks and the income trsuts which list options around the same time. this likely would have been followed by selling on thursday morning in order to take the profits.

Questions that need to be looked at:

Who was at the consultations in Ottawa last Wedensday afternoon?
Which brokerage houses did they represent or have ties to?
Did those brokerages have an unusually high buy volume that afternoon? (on the dividend paying stocks/income trusts)
Can we find out the contribution history of those at the consultations wedensday?
Which houses did most of the buying on Wedensday aft and was this a general pattern for that house across the trusts and dividend paying stocks that day?
Any selling pattern the following day? Contribution histories for execs at those firms?
Options trading on these stocks.

And so my general thrust has been, this cries out for an investigation, especially when we're are going to have an election and all that type of thing. Here I am looking at it and saying; what does my gut tell me? versus, what can I prove in court? Well, I can't prove anything in court right now because I don't know who the actual buyers were behind the brokerage trades. When you look at it, different stocks seem to have different brokers doing the trading in them. So when you add it all up, I don't think there is any reason why you can't have an investigation on this because it is so crucial after we've had the Adscam stuff and there's an election coming. And the emails that I'm getting in from people are saying, 'Look, before I vote I would like to know.'

Ignatieff Nomination Unravelling

Bourque has the scoop;

Now, however, his undemocratic drop-in "acclamation" is being rebuffed in Etobicoke-Lakeshore as determined local Liberals, including the president of the Toronto branch of the Ukrainian Congress, move forward with their own nomination meeting tonight. Indeed, the Liberal riding association has now indicated that Ignatieff is not even a member in good standing. So much for the concept of democracy, eh Mr. Ignatief ? This growing nightmare can only find one logical outcome, insiders say. Ignatieff will have to step aside. Worse, senior Liberals in Toronto, Bourque has learned, are readying a game plan that will allow the egghead to step aside in favour of devoting more time to his students, lest the growing unrest surrounding his imposed candidacy split the Liberal vote in Etobicoke-Lakeshore. A little egg on the Great Ego's face, after all, might be the perfect reminder to him that democracy has a process and it must be followed. UPDATE: After Bourque divulged Ignatieff's grave difficulties, his appearance on a TV panel this morning was cancelled. Developing.

2005: A Space Oddity

The Liberal Party of Canada has launched a new star candidate..

"It's time to turn the page on the sponsorship issue" "It's been put out there ... it's been solved..."
"The Liberal party has taken a beating..."
"Now it's time to move on."

Mainstream Offers Inaccurate, Silly Opinion On Blogs

An article on political blogs that manages not only to avoid meaningful content, it offers up a host of incorrect assumptions;

But for all the political blogs that can be found on the Net, it remains hard to pinpoint with any certainty their impact on voters.

Recent voting patterns indicate turnout among younger Canadians is low and dropping.

Here's a comment that appeared here at SDA a couple of days ago;

Typical CBC leading off with poll showing the Liberals ahead. For the duration, that is the last time I watch any news. I'll get all my updates on this blog so keep up the good work with your posts. At 77, I have to watch the old b.p.

It's a misconception held not only by many in media, but by those in political circles, and it results in idiotic prattlings like this by writers dropped into the blogosphere who have no clue what they're doing, or who their audience really is.

But just because it's an Internet-savvy generation doesn't mean blogging is the answer to engaging disaffected voters, said Chris Waddell, a journalism professor at Carleton University who teaches web publishing.

"I'm not convinced anyone reads them other than a small group of insiders," said Waddell.

"People are not coming home from work at night and deciding they have to read 10 or 12 blogs before dinner in the same way they may read the newspaper or sit down to watch the news."

My traffic patterns indicate most people read blogs during the day, often at work (that's supported by logfile data) with another surge in the early evening.

He adds some of the more effective blogs, especially in the United States, have reached mass audiences - but it's because reporters from mainstream media pick up on a blog posting.

Blogging is a niche media. Very few political bloggers seek to be all things to all people, no more than most who write political columns in the mainstream media aim to do so. Single bloggers aren't isolated entities competing with one another, but participants in an ever evolving, open source staff of opinion writers and information providers connected electronically.

One doesn't compare the traffic of any individual poliblogger to the circulation figures of a city newspaper - the blogger is to the blogosphere what the polticial columnist or financial reporter is to the paper. The web user can pick and choose who he reads and doesn't read in the same way I skip over columns or sections of the paper I'm not interested in.

But the most serious flaw in the article is that it assumes the transference of opinion and information is one way - from blogger to reader in the same "top down" fashion that mainstream journalism speaks to their consumers.

It's really the other way around - as a blog develops traffic, the information flow reverses, as readers begin to inform other readers, with the blogger as interpreter and facilitator - functioning, as Hugh Hewitt described it, as an internet guide or "cyber sherpa".

The impact of blogging on the poltiical landscape doesn't happen here on these "pages" nor is it measured in my traffic. I don't write to "sway disaffected voters".

It occurs when the reader who visits SDA - who follows the links in posts and comments to an Auditor General's report, to military bloggers in Iraq, who has viewed scanned letters issued from the Finance Department to Adscam players - sends a link to a friend in Nova Scotia, sits down at the table with family, at coffee break at the work place, and someone else raises a subject for discussion that has been framed in the mainstream - such as the war in Iraq, income trusts, Paul Martin's involvement in Sponsorship. And that person, the blog reader, has information that no one else has heard.

(Update - the comments are confirming my estimate on typical age of SDA readers).

Despite Claims To The Contrary

Has anyone else noticed that virtually every online poll is coming up with results like this one? (on the left sidebar of the Cnews article on blogging, scroll down)

If you spot others, drop them in the comments.

A Dish Served Cold

Here's an opportunity that doesn't come along every day. I hope some of them "take her up" on the offer.

Last May, Belinda Stronach crossed the floor and now she wants her former campaign team to follow. The Liberal cabinet minister is asking the Conservative volunteers who helped her get elected in 2004 to come work for the Liberal party.

"I would like to take this opportunity to personally reach out to you, because you worked so hard to elect me as the member of Parliament for Newmarket-Aurora," Stronach wrote last week in a letter to the volunteers.

"If you are still supportive and wish to become involved in the upcoming election campaign, I would love to hear from you!"

Angry has more on her high priced campaign team.

Wednesday Trading

Conservative Life links to a bluntly worded National Post editorial and is hosting "an image of income trust trading last week" in advance of Ralph Goodale's announcement.

Another Wednesday "spike"...

And this one.

(CanWest MediaWorks Income)

Obviously, the volumes differ. But the Wednesday "spiking" pattern is ... curious.

More at the Shotgun, where Kevin Steele is requesting assistance.

I LOOOOVE Canada...

Sounds like an election slogan to me!

The Librano Election Sign Generator is here.

"He Doesn't Love This Country"

Greg Staples;

I just wonder if the journalist who upon receiving this email and decided that these were marching orders is proud that he's busted? (go here and click Tuesday - 3:35)

Canadian Hostages Identified

In an exclusive, Rusty Shackleford of The Jawa Report has identified the four "anti-war" hostages taken in Iraq. The names include those of the two Canadians being held.

A hostage video has been released of the four Western peace activists taken hostage in Iraq. The Jawa Report has obtained a copy of the video. Images from the video and links to video posted below. The video shows American Thomas Fox of Clear Brook Virginia, Canadian Harmeet Singh Sooden, who resides in Auckland, New Zealand, British citizen Norman Kember, and some one who appears to identify himself as James Loni (last name unclear) of Canada.

Previously only Norman Kember had been identified. The Christian Peacemaker Teams organization has confirmed to The Jawa Report in the e-mail that the four hostages were working for that group.

The copy of the video I have makes no ransom demands, although a voice can be heard directing the hostages in the background.

(CTV report.)

Liberal Party Of Canada Blog: "It's Neato"!

Speaking of blogging... this appears to be an official Liberal Party of Canada blog. I say "appears" for a reason;

Wow, look at me! I'm in "cyberspace," where no one can hear you scream. Or maybe they CAN hear you scream but they don't pay attention because they're too busy looking at naked ladies. Either way, stop screaming, would you?

I for one am betting this so-called "Internet" is really going to catch on. It's neato. Take, for example, these things knowns as "blogs" - you're soaking in one right now! These blogs are great because they allow people with special insight to instantly convey their astute observations and sage opinions to a knowledge- starved world. Or so I'm told. Personally, I'm mostly going to use this one to talk about the lost thespian promise of Erik Estrada. Because really, someone ought to. The man had screen charisma the way Marlon Brando had neck fat.

I may also touch on this whole "who should run the country" deal we've got going on here in Canada.

Last night, the opposition voted non-confidence in the government and forced an election campaign that will take place over the holiday season. This means two things: 1) the prime minister will this morning be visitng the Governor-General to ask her (very nicely, possibly while eating a crumpet) to dissolve the 38th Parliament. And 2) millions of innocent Canadian children will be confronted with the onerous task of staring into the television this Christmas season and trying to tell Stephen Harper from the Grinch.

Remember, kids: one is grumpy and has a heart two sizes too small. And the other one's the Grinch.

Travelling as part of what is officially called the Leader's Tour (and what is colloquially known among staffers as That Plane That Hardly Ever Seems To Land in Alberta for Some Reason), I will be filing typo-ridden, thumb-pecked dispatches on my Blackberry over the course of the campaign.
Remember: views expressed on this blog do not necessarily represent the policies or beliefs of Paul Martin. Except when I write about the hypnotic musical stylings of Nana Mouskouri. We're totally in sync on that.

Anonymous Blogging At CTV?

CTV has launched an "election blog" with such distinguished authors as "CTV news editor" .

Get with the program, people - you represent a national media corporation. Sign your posts.

(Flashback - an unsigned email from a "CTV news producer".)

Raise A Flag, Post Mortem

If you're a John Gormley Live listener stopping by to check out the "Raise A Flag" controversy, (the website is now down) you can read the post that started it all here along with followup posts here and here.

Heh.

The Irony Of Ignatieff

A commentor responds to the Michael Ignatieff controversy;

Incredible irony is that the riding association secretary travelled to Ukraine (on her own dollar) as an election observer during the Orange Revolution.

A year later she experiences political machinations right here at home, courtesy the Canadian government that presumed to teach Ukrainians about democracy.

Maybe we should demand the government bring over election observers from Ukraine. Maybe conservatives should start wearing orange?

At a dinner party over the weekend with fellow fulminating reactionary types of the conservative persuasion, the subject of Michael Ignatieff came up. The son of a diplomat and a painter, this classically educated and unfailingly thoughtful writer, scholar and broadcaster is regarded as a great leadership hopeful for the Liberal party.

Possessing Trudeau-type levels of charm and erudition, Ignatieff would certainly be a change from such uninspiring leaders as the hopelessly dithery Paul Martin and the thuggish Jean Chretien. For a couple of years now, Liberal party canvassers had been seeking to persuade Ignatieff to run for office, and he has finally taken the bait.

It remains to be seen whether a man of such refinement and integrity can retain those qualities once he's been thoroughly processed through the crude sausage-making machinery of party politics.

Such strong-arm machinations are just business as usual in party politics, but they don't fit so comfortably with a man whose writings have constantly expressed solidarity with the down trodden and those shoved aside.

Ideal "leadership" material - if you belong to (or long to be accepted by) the class-obsessed culture of ruling Ottawa elites.

And Then There Was That Time They Double-Crossed De Gaulle

From Simon Jenkins, columnist for London's Sunday Times, this startling historical scoop;

That Blair and Bush should have discussed bombing the Al-Jazeera building in Qatar is hardly surprising. They agreed to bomb the headquarters of Serbian television during the Kosovo war.

Well, color us impressed. Who knew President Bush was already conducting foreign policy back in 1999, when he was still governor of Texas?

Colour Gravity

Another spectacular image by "Urban Refugee" Sean McCormick.

Go buy some stuff, so he can afford to weatherseal those windows!

Reacting To The Ukrainophobe's Reaction

"Ignatieff blasts 'transparent' attempt to sow Liberal dissent" reads the headline...

Author and scholar Michael Ignatieff pledged his affinity Monday to Canada's Ukrainian community and branded efforts to discredit him on the eve of the federal election campaign a “transparent attempt” to twist his writing and sow dissent within the Liberal Party.

" I find it galling Ignatieff would consider his hijacking of the candidate selection process anything other than a thinly veiled attempt by Paul Martin to 'parachute in' another Liberal bag-man and syncophant."

"The press release issued by the Membership Secretary of the Etobicoke Lakeshore Federal Liberal Riding Association alleges that the Liberal Headquarters in Toronto locked their doors early and would not respond to phone calls to avoid receiving the nominations of the two candidates, despite staffers being visible through the windows. That's a detail the Globe ought not to omit."

"Mr. Ignatieff, are you not ashamed of the method which was used to install you as the candidate for Etobicoke - Lakeshore?How can you condone the shafting of two Liberal legitimate nominees?If your actions match your words, you should refuse the nomination until a proper nomination contest is organized.Otherwise you are just a Ivy League hypocrite."

Monte Solberg: Live BloggingThe Vote

As he did this spring, Monte Solberg is liveblogging the non-confidence vote via blackberry.

The galleries are jammed in anticipation of the vote. A Liberal backbencher, Larry Bagnell is speaking, but no one is listening.

Stephen Fletcher just stopped by to chat and wish a few of us a Merry Christmas. A good man.

I see many staffers, spouses, senators, and a billion others representing a lot of different groups. All with a ringside seat to history. More later.

Reader Tips, Quick Links

This is kind of cute.

Lots of comments today about the "BOOOOOOOOO" heard round B.C. Place Stadium.

With all the yackity yack about the "absurdity" of linking the LIberal Party with organized crime (however you choose to define it) this link offers a few archived articles on the topic, including this quote from September 2000;

"For the first time in this country, we are seeing signs of criminal organizations that are so sophisticated that they actually are focusing on destabilizing certain aspects of our society," said Commissioner Zaccardelli. The commissioner is a 30-year veteran of the RCMP who was previously the force's deputy commissioner in charge of the fight against organized crime.

"That's a real threat to us. There are criminal organizations that target this destabilization of our parliamentary system."

Well, I guess this helps explain why Liberal bloggers continue to struggle for both traffic and influence...

However, on-line advertising may play less of a role in this election. With Internet ad sales booming right now, the home pages of some web portals, such as Yahoo Canada, are being booked months in advance, ad buyers say.

Meanwhile, the Liberals are putting less of a focus on getting their message out through political blogs in this campaign. "That was a factor in the last election and, frankly, of limited value," Mr. MacKinnon said. "We think it's overvalued and overrated. What you have there is the most opinionated people in the country. So you're not changing any minds."

Add your own in the comments.

Raise A Flag Lowered

This morning Saskatchewan premier Lorne Calvert announced that the Raise A Flag campaign for a Saskatchewan Energy Accord will wrap up "because he wouldn't want to spend taxpayers' money to influence an election campaign."

(If that quote doesn't parse, change settings to "suspend disbelief", then reload.)

As of late last week Calvert was pledging before TV cameras that the website's online poll would go back up after a "security fence" was constructed to prevent "inappropriate" voting.

Apparently, this whole non-confidence vote thingie in Ottawa just sorta blindsided him.

Update
Thanks to reader Mark Pearson, a video clip of CTV news item from last week - it's 6 megs, so not dialup friendly. .mwv file

Dirty Tricks Already?

This item has been circulating in the blogosphere over the last few hours. This arrived by private email;

MP Gary Lunn's riding is getting telephone calls from a telemarketer as we speak. The telemarketer claims they are phoning on behalf of Gary Lunn; then partway through the conversation states that Gary does NOT support Harper.

The mistake they made was phoning Gary Lunn's house; he got their phone number, is going to call the RCMP and the press... "

UPDATE
Commentor "AsISeeIt" placed a call to Lunn's office;

Just talked to their office and they said not so. Gary Lunn did not receive that call.

About Those "Chickenhawk" Warbloggers

Blogger Bill Roggio of the (now closed) Fourth Rail is now in Iraq, patrolling with the Jackals of Lima Company as an embed. See this too, on the successful Operation Steel Curtain.

In an email to Glenn Reynolds, he writes;

"My internet access has been limited but I'm having the time of my life in Iraq. I've had great access to all of the Marines and soldiers out here, and am being treated like royalty. These guys are extremely frustrated with the media and make no bones about their distaste for those who are undermining the war effort by calling for withdrawal."

Check them both out.

Income Trusts And Magical Guesses

Barry Critchely of the Financial Post wasn't the only one who noticed something funny was going on in the markets...

Last Wednesday afternoon when I entered my stock prices into Quicken, I noticed something odd. The price for Fording Coal had risen sharply throughout the week. The most recent news for Fording was from October. When I read the paper the next day though, the answer was crystal clear: at least some investors magically guessed that the Liberal government would back off from their plan to tax income trusts.

Via Peaktalk

Insider Trading On Income Trusts

Brought to you by the good people at Finance.

Bruce Gottfred pulls together the post of the week, and it's only just begun...

It began Wednesday at 5:20 pm, when John McKay, the parliamentary secretary of Ralph Goodale, went on live television and casually announced a major tax policy as easily as he might have announced new funding for macramé training for immigrants in a too-close-too-call riding -- and didn't even have his facts straight [...]

It's obvious that some people were in the know as to what was about to happen. In Barry Critchley's column in today's National Post, he talks to an investment banker that didn't get a chance to be 'consulted' by the Finance department before it made its decision.

"It's brutal. It's third world. It's unbelievable," he said.

And this banker wasn't just referring to the events of last Wednesday. Indeed, the process got off to a good start in early September, when Ottawa announced it was planning a consultation process on income trusts. A week or so later, the process reached amateur-hour proportions when the government announced it would not be giving any more advance tax rulings on trust conversions. More importantly, what did that decision mean for the process, which was kicked off with a 50-page report that indicated that everything was being analyzed?

Since then, it has been full-scale panic as Ottawa dealt with all sorts of anger from all sorts of people -- market participants, industry executives, retail investors and pension funds.

And the final straw: "The government then tells a bunch of Bay Street insiders what it is going to do so they can profit. And then it does it. It's insane," added the banker.

(Via Angry.)

Update: On the drive home this afternoon, I see this story has broken on a wider scale. But check out this CBC version - which can't help but tack on a dismissive comment at the end of the report.

Some political observers said the calls for investigations were signs that the looming election campaign could become nasty

We pay these people with our tax dollars. They can do better than that. Let's email them and ask precisely who it is they're referring to.

Reader Tips

Sunday I wrap up at the dog show (hopefully before noon) and travel the 6 hours home - and we're expecting "weather", so don't expect much in the way of new posts until Monday.

And at that, I have a lot of work to cram in before the weekend.

So, it's a reader tips post, and open thread.

Deuce Four On The Big Screen

A couple of weeks ago I noted that Bruce Willis had been spending time in Iraq with "Deuce Four", made famous by blogger and embed extraordinaire, Michael Yon. If you're one of the newer arrivals to the blogosphere, I highly recommend you read his archives.

Now, Willis is putting his money where his mouth is;

ANGERED by negative portrayals of the conflict in Iraq, Bruce Willis, the Hollywood star, is to make a pro-war film in which American soldiers will be depicted as brave fighters for freedom and democracy.

It will be based on the exploits of the heavily decorated members of Deuce Four, the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry, which has spent the past year battling insurgents in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul.

[...]

“I am baffled to understand why the things I saw happening in Iraq are not being reported,” he told MSNBC, the American news channel.

He is expected to base the film on the writings of the independent blogger Michael Yon, a former special forces green beret who was embedded with Deuce Four and sent regular dispatches about their heroics.

Yon was at the soldiers’ ball with Willis, who got to know him through his internet war reports on www.michaelyon.blogspot.com. “What he is doing is something the American media and maybe the world media isn’t doing,” the actor said, “and that’s telling the truth about what’s happening in the war in Iraq.”

"Hear, Hear!"

Last week in the Saskatchewan legislature;

Mr. D’Autremont: — Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In today’s world almost everyone has heard of blogs. Even the Minister of Learning has heard of them. Last week he even quoted from one of the more prominent blogs that reports on Saskatchewan issues.

The minister took issue with smalldeadanimals — one word — .com blogger Catherine McMillan’s opinion that our leader, the member for Swift Current, is the real thing. Mr. Speaker, the minister said that he thinks that bloggers are totally irrelevant. The Minister of Learning, during his Speech to the Throne on November 14 said, and I quote:

. . . but I will tell you that the Saskatchewan people that are going to . . . the polls in the next election are not going to be swayed by . . . small dead animals.

Well, Mr. Speaker, smalldeadanimals.com and the bloggers had something to say about this. Readers of her blog would know that McMillan was very happy to be mentioned by the minister. In fact she called getting slagged in the provincial legislature by Learning minister Andrew Thomson a high point of her blog.

Blogger Shane O. had this to say: If you can pull off that kind of influence, Kate, and actually kick the Sask socialists out of power — you may just convince me to move my family back to Saskatchewan.

Some Hon. Members: — Hear, hear!

The minister may be interested in knowing that smalldeadanimals.com had more than 1.2 million hits, averaged 4,000 a day and 29,000 a week."

Good Questions

Paul Tuns quotes Greg Staples;

"how can a campaign chairman for a party be allowed to work for the largest media conglomerate in Canada?" and how can Canadians "expect disinterested coverage from the Globe and Mail and CTV when one of their own employees is responsible for getting the Liberals re-elected in Ontario?" Especially when he's the main source for the Globe's front-page stories.

As I said, Greg asks good questions. Just don't hold your breath waiting for these people to provide answers.

An American Thanksgiving

A million dollar donation to the victims of hurricane Katrina - and you'll never guess from who.

Trollspotting

Of the many things folks have to say about Warren Kinsella, "slow learner" isn't generally one of them. Which makes this hard to explain.

Abotech: Getting Traction

The story we've been following at Angry In The Great White North over Liberal MP David Smith and Abotech has finally broken into print.

And not just in print, but in a local paper. The West Quebec Post, with a circulation of about 5000, distributes in David Smith's riding. Don't forget also that Pontiac is just across the river from Ottawa.

So go read the article, and consider what impact it might be having on voters in Pontiac. It'll also be interesting to see if the story gets picked up by another paper, what with an election call days away driving interest. I am personally gratified that Julie Murray was able to independently verify many of the facts I had uncovered, and that I am credited (see the end of the article) for my work on this.

Ground Control To Major Paul

Glenn Reynolds has little fun with a UFO nut.

Unfortunately, he's a former Canadian Minister of Defence.

Hellyer warned, "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning. He stated, "The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide."

Reader Tips

No time for surfing tonight, so it's a reader tips day - you know the drill.

Also, I'm scheduled to be on the The World Tonight with Rob Breakenridge (770 am, I think) here in Calgary at 8ish pm local time.

You can listen live here.

The Democratic Deficit

H/T to maz2 for spotting this Don Martin item in the National Post.

Election Thread

As I type, Stephen Harper is in the process of introducing a non-confidence motion. Seems like a good time for an open thread on the upcoming election.

Have at 'er, but keep it civil, keep the language under control and have fun!

As a side note, I don't share the same level of consternation some of you have expressed over "King Ralph's" comments featured last evening. If he was intent on damaging Stephen Harper, he pulled the trigger suspiciously early. As has happened with Joe Clark, subsequent statements will lose their novelty. One thing that his musing about the return of a Liberal minority does achieve is this - it reinforces the "underdog status" of the conservatives, while motivating the base (a lot of you were angry at him, right? That's good. More importantly, an Alberta premier musing openly about the shaky prospects of his federal counterpart helps calm those would be Liberal voters who aren't all that enthusiastic about trudging through the snow on behalf of the party of comfy fur. That's even better. So keep talking, Ralph, Keep talking.

As I've said before - if there's a single word that makes Liberal strategists' blood run cold it's this one - motivation.

Gettin' Out Of Dodge

I'm leaving for Calgary today for the weekend, so it's a quick reader tips post. Drop your finds in the comments or send a trackback. I will be checking in from time to time, but blogging will be light until Monday.

A good opportunity to exand your blog horizons - check out the sites on the blogroll!

Illustrating Diversity

Feel kind of sorry for that little fella in the green sweater.

H/T to "Shaken"

Flagging A Poll: Welcome CTV Viewers!

For visitors from CTV's coverage tonight on the Raise A Flag poll debacle, you can view a copy of the original results page as they appeared on the website here, and the comments thread in which readers of SDA got into the act to prove the poll result was "unaffected by votes" here.

UPDATE - now on Youtube

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation blog has picked up this story as well.

On the surface, it seems like a silly little story - until one understands that poll was never intended to record public opinion, but to influence it.

That's a little more serious.

Though, admittedly, watching the provincial premier in front of the tv cameras sputtering about blogs and declaring that "small dead animals doesn't speak for the people of Saskatchewan" was pretty darned funny.

(No kidding, Lorne - the poll results were already rigged by the time I drew attention to it here.)

Calvert said the poll will be back up once a "security fence" has been developed. He's right about one thing - he doesn't know about blogs.

Oh... we are so going to own this thing.

(As an aside, perhaps this helps illustrate how having the SGEU a "voting block" on your side can help push your favourite choice over the top.)

Updates

Heh.
CBC : "Online prankster foils gov't poll"...

CKOM radio just played a clip of Calvert claiming someone "hacked" into the system and added 1000 votes... I wonder if he has any appreciation for how much cluelessness his handlers have confessed to. Do they not realize every 12 year old on the planet knows how to delete cookies to vote on any online poll as often as they wish?

From the comments this observation from "Altruistic" on the premier's suggestion that the website was "hacked"...

I'm just back from the USA having worked there in the computer field for the last several years. My specialty was website programming, domain management, e- commerce, network security and system administration. I suppose I can thank Calvert's lack of understanding for why I am unemployed in Saskatchewan. Attract high- tech industry? Judging by this latest incident, they don't even know what high-tech industry is!

To top it off I interviewed with the company in Regina (whose headquarters are in Texas) that designs the Sask government software BEFORE I was hired on in the USA and I wouldn't touch their technology with a ten foot pole. Remember that whole land titles software scam - over budget past due. I interviewed for that and ran like mad when I found out what they were doing. So again Saskatchewan continues the time-honored tradition of exporting people who excel in their profession.

Anyway, I wonder if the Calvert government would consent to a third party security audit if their computer system was hacked. Get the forensics guys in there right away to find out what happened. After all, someone may have stole our personal information and suscepted the whole province to identity theft. Who knows what OTHER problems a hacker caused besides this poll situation. It would be irresponsible to think they stopped at petty mischief when there is a mound of gold in the government computers for them to profit from. If nothing else, their website programmer and system admin need to be fired for allowing such an obviously blatant oversight to cause a province-wide security scandal.

Knowing this Mr. Calvert, I suggets you refrain from sprinkling the media with terminology such as "hack." There are many of us out there who know what we are doing. You may want to consider hiring someone to help you spin what has happened. Failing that, just call it what it really is, "incompetence."
I'm sure that's a term Sakatchewan residents are familiar with, particularly in reference to their government.

Did Anyone Else Get One Of These?

Stephanie Matteis of CBC's The National e-mailed James Bow;

Hi James,

I'm hoping you can help?

I'm looking for someone who was going to vote Conservative in the last election but changed their minds along the way because they were scared, freaked out or worried about the Conservatives, the Conservative agenda or its leader. So, instead, they voted Liberal. Now you're facing the same dilemma this time. If this describes you AND you are willing to travel for a couple of days next month AND you are willing to appear on television then please get in touch immediately.

If this doesn't describe you, please feel free to forward this email to someone you feel might fit this description.

Thanks.

h/t Bob Tarantino, who didn't get one, either.

Follow The 126 Million Bouncing Balls...

DND news;

The first 60 Gelaendenwagen vehicles, "G Wagon" for short, produced by Mercedes Benz in Graz, Austria, will be deployed to Afghanistan in March for use during Operation ATHENA. An additional 40 vehicles will be delivered to the CF shortly thereafter and the remainder of the fleet will be fielded over the next several months to units in Canada. Delivery will be completed by August 2005.

A $126-million contract was awarded to Mercedes Benz Canada on October 21, for the procurement of 802 G Wagons and 118 armour protection systems (APS). The contract includes an unfunded option to buy up to 499 additional vehicles and up to 135 additional APS kits at an additional cost of $99.4 million—an additional 42 APS were purchased under this option in December 2003 for $4.44 million bringing the total number of APS kits to 160.

The legendary G-Wagon has remained virtually unchanged in it's design since 1979, except for various safety and technology upgrades.  According to Dieter Zetsche, head of the Mercedes Car Group, "Mercedes-Benz wrote automotive history by always ensuring that the G-Class remained state of-the-art over the past 26 years, and it will continue to offer its customers the very latest technology in the future.”

Production for the G-Class will remain at the Magna Steyr Plant in Graz, Austria, where over 185,000 have been produced throughout the years.

[Belinda Stronach] also commented: "The increased vehicle project management and assembly contracts awarded to Magna Steyr provides increased opportunities to source more parts content from Magna's other automotive systems companies and groups,"

The Sound Of Corks Popping

And to the victor go the spoils.

Reaction to another pre-election "Hail Mary" cash toss by the Liberals to settle residential school claims at Dust My Broom (including a link to the Auditor General's report);

Read the whole thing as it is very enlightening. She is nice about it, but if you read deeper you'll notice the complete incompetance of our huge government's ability to accomplish simple agendas.

The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs is probably the worst of it all. Terrible management layered with multiple hellish bureaucracy and complex idioms that nobody can understand. Think how they will handle an extra $8 billion running through their fingers next year. It will be a damn waste.

The only way to go to improve anything is to eliminate this huge governance hidden under the farce of caring.

Allan Cutler To Run For CPC

Stephen Taylor;

This is good news. Earlier this year, Kate and I were trying to lobby the party to nominate Cutler to the Order of Canada. Pierre Polievre did a few weeks ago but Cutler will have to put off the honour as he'll be a great MP in whichever riding he's contesting.

Cutler is the former Public Works employee whose whistleblowing on Chuck Guite and irregular contracts pushed through for Earnscliffe by Paul Martin's Finance Department sparked the audit that uncovered Adscam.

Update - News Release

Stephen Harper, Leader of the Opposition and leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, today announced that Allan Cutler will seek the Conservative Party of Canada's nomination for the upcoming election in the riding of Ottawa South.

Mr. Cutler is well-known to Canadians as the career public servant who blew the whistle on the corruption at the heart of the sponsorship scandal in 1995 and lost his job as a result. 

"Allan was singled out for praise by Judge Gomery in his report," said Harper, "and some citizens have said he deserves the Order of Canada."

"When Canadians go to the polls, the question they will face is simple: after twelve years of waste,
mismanagement, and corruption, which party can provide the change in the system that is needed to clean up government in Ottawa?"

"I am honoured to announce that Mr. Cutler has decided to seek the nomination to become the next Conservative candidate in the riding of Ottawa South."

The "Genious" of Progressive Bloggers

Don't just stand there - regulate something!

Flagging A Poll

A confidential source tipped me off on a poll that seems to be responding - or to be more precise - not responding to negative votes. No matter how many "no" votes are entered, it seems stuck at 90 - 10 in favour

It's currently hosted at the website of the Calvert government's insipid "Raise A Flag" advertising campaign for a Saskatchewan Energy Accord. (Speaking of which - Lorne, you missed our chance. That brass ring breezed past your nose this spring while you were busy posing with and throwing your support behind the "Canadians don't want an election now wait for Gomery while we shovel out the cash" Liberals. )

Moron.

Anyway, it hardly matters what the poll results are - Calvert has outlived his usefulness as far as Martin and Goodale are concerned. So go here and vote NO.

With the traffic that travels through here, a burst of SDA voting should swing that ratio very quickly.

I don't want any whining about "cheating". This is a technical experiment to establish whether this poll - paid for by Saskatchewan taxpayers - is rigged. We should know within a few hours.

(PS - you're welcome to record your votes in the comments, for the purpose of getting a rough idea of how many we've cast).

Update: From the comments;

Anonalogue;

The poll appears to be a module of a content management system called Mercury CMS from a Regina company TMC. From the website:
Polling Module

"Get realtime data on the attitudes, opinions, and thoughts of your website visitors. Create Opinion Polls fast and easy using the Mercury CMS Poll Admin Tools. View your Poll results as they are calculated and respond quickly to make changes."
http://mercury-cms.com/index.cfm?page=4

I just checked the source code for the results page and the 90% Yes and 10% No are hard coded into the page. Vote all you want, it won't change.

Wednesday update: The "Raise a flag" poll has been lowered down the pole. Something tells me we haven't heard the last of this...

Poundmaker Story Goes "National"

From a member of the Poundmaker Working Group;

The CBC-TV Documentary on Poundmaker First Nations`s sordid state of Band Governance will be broadcast at exactly 10:20pm, Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005 on "THE NATIONAL".

It`s a story that involved hard hitting and honest interviews with several high profile people including a former Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Janice Switlo and several members from the Poundmaker Working Group.

The doc`y has been in the works for about 6 months and is based strictly on documentation, no heresay, no inuendo. The targeted timeline for broadcast was to intentionally coincide with the FMM taking place in Kelowna this week.

Search Results

Heh.

Spillage

Warren Kinsella;

Canada Steamship Lines is a company owned by a certain Canadian politician.  It doesn't fly the Canadian flag to avoid paying taxes here, it has had a ship seized for drug running and, now this, found in this.

By the time the tunnelmen were done, the Tadoussac would be in Lake Erie. The ship's master would swing the boom out over the water and pass Macdonald the word to have the electrician start the conveyor belts. The belts would whir into motion, and the sweepings would pour off the boom into the waters of Lake Erie for half an hour, leaving a trail of iron-ore dust in the ship's wake-the only visible sign of the environmental degradation.

It was a routine task but, even though he was a seasoned sailor, it never sat right with Macdonald. He is certainly no tree-hugger, but thinks there must be an alternative. "It's been a bone of contention for me for years," he says. "They call this spillage. I love the term."

CSL is only one shipping company dumping sweepings into the Great Lakes. Ships have discharged cargo residue there ever since armadas of ore carriers started criss-crossing the lakes in the 1870s. No one knows how much has collected on the lakebeds travelled by major carriers, but cargo sweeping is routine for the 130 lakers that ply those waters today. Fourteen of these lakers are owned or operated by CSL, the company held by Paul Martin from 1981 to 1993, when he became finance minister and transferred management duties to a trustee.

Reader Tips Please: Tracking the "Culture of Entitlement"

I'm gathering info on cases of Liberal government patronage, etc from the post-Chretien Librano era to present. I know some of you have a lot of this tucked away or covered on your own sites. Drop them in the comments or email to me privately, if you have the chance.

Thanks.

Note: Please reread this post, and refrain from posting off topic chatter.

More On Trudeapian "Equal Opportunity"

Mark Collins shared this not so uncommon gem in the comments section at Angry's. The bottom paragraph comes close to Monty Python material;

'Classification: AS-03 (Anticipatory staffing)
Position Title: Assistant Branch Manager, Correspondence & Parliamentary Affairs
Department or Agency: Department of Health
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Organization: Corporate Services Branch, Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister
Salary: $ 50,457 - $ 54,365 per year
Tenure
Term length: 1 year(s)
When may I apply?
On or before November 25, 2005

Who can apply?
**Persons employed in the Public Service occupying a position in the National Capital Region who are members of visible minority groups. As an equal opportunity employer, Health Canada is committed to achieving a skilled, diversified workforce that reflects the diversity of the Canadian population. In support of developing a diverse workforce, this opportunity is open to those persons belonging to a visible minority group. The Employment Equity Act defines members of visible minority groups as follows: "persons other than aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour". Applicants must clearly self-identify as belonging to a visible minority group in their application...'

In the automotive repair and refinishing industry, we have an easy solution for that!

Open Mouth, Remove Foot.

Insert other foot;

"Well I've got something to tell you. I'm going to be the MP for a very, very long time, and you can kiss my ass"

Prayer In School

Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

more*.

X

Someone has some Xplainin' to do...

Video here at Political Teen. I know there are some photo/graphics techies in the audience (Sean McCormick, I'm talking to you) - can anyone isolate the black lettering at the bottom of the image?

Update - A Winnipeg blogger gets 'er done. CNN states it's a technical glitch, but has launched an investigation. Maybe, but it sounds like a strange one. From Drudge - A rival network news director asks: "When has an 'X' ever aired on CNN before? Who had the graphic sitting in the key signal? Who generated the 'X'?"

Carter Lied, People Died

More news you'll never see on the CBC - angry Ethiopians protest an appearance by Jimmy Carter.

Martin Youth

Yikes.

Brison Apologizes In The House

Hon. Scott Brison (Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, this morning I rise on a point of order to clarify remarks that I made on November 4 in the House. I have sent the following letter to the member for Calgary Southwest and I would li e to read that letter today. I am writing to you in connection with three statements made in a published press release on Friday, November 4, 2005. The three statements, which I now understand to be untrue, are: one, the NCC has been charged six times under the Canada Elections Act of various malfeasances relating to third party advertising, many of these under the Leader of the Opposition's watch; two, the Leader of the Opposition's past is littered with examples of questionable, if not illegal, behaviour; and three, the Leader of the Opposition was in contravention of the Lobbyist Registration Act.     

I make the following statement as a correction and by way of apology.  

The Invisible Class

References to SDA turn up in the most unusual places. An article by Mark Proudman - The Invisible Class (pdf).

More of his work here.

"It Must Be An Amazing High"

A few days ago I linked to an article by Mark Helprin and included this quote;

During the Cold War, one could always suspect that democratic socialists lusted in their hearts for Leninism, and might have given themselves over had the balance of power shifted eastward. This was at least a plausible explanation for their opposition to virtually any measure of Western defense, and their perpetual horror of anti-Communism. But no force, it would seem, should be capable of transforming even a lifetime of socialist ardor into sympathy for absolutist mullahs, 10th-century tribal warriors, decapitators, and circumcisors of women.

Well, today I have the distaste of presenting the sympathetic Kurt Vonnegut - celebrated author, outspoken Bush critic and "peace activist".

Asked if he thought of terrorists as soldiers, Vonnegut, a decorated World War II veteran, said: "I regard them as very brave people, yes."

Vonnegut suggested suicide bombers must feel an "amazing high". He said: "You would know death is going to be painless, so the anticipation - it must be an amazing high."

Mr. Vonnegut - again, a patriot whose dissent is being cruelly ground into the nurturing earth before your eyes - seems to think that suicide bombings literally happen in a vacuum, an unpopulated space where the bombers just pop like soap bubbles. It may be painless for them - alas - but it is not painless for the victims. You’d think such an obvious observation would go without saying, but we are dealing with an intellectual. What Vonnegut calls brave - blowing yourself up so you can fly up to the great Bunny Ranch in the sky and rut with fragrant houris blessed with self-regenerating hymens - does not exactly compare to the bravery required of the survivors.

All Tied Up In A Neat Little Bow

From the Saskatoon SP;

Over a four-month period last winter, 1,500 cheques were written from the $3.7- million trust account of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN), despite orders from the band's trustees to freeze all spending from the account.

This spending spree occurred on the watch of longtime Chief Ron Michel, who last month was voted in as chief of the powerful Prince Albert Grand Council.

[...]

Under pressure from community members this summer, Michel said he ordered an audit of the trust account with results to be released in August.

August and September came and went with no audit results released.

On Oct. 18, still with no audit results in sight, Michel won a fourth ballot vote to take over arguably the most influential post in Saskatchewan First Nations politics -- grand chief of the Prince Albert Grand Council.

He now controls an organization that represents one-third of the province's First Nations people and has an annual budget of more than $40 million.

In an interview following his election as grand chief, Michel refused to discuss the promised audit or the emptied trust account.

"Well, right now I'd like to leave that as is. As you know, leaders have critics all over the place," he said. "I want to leave that behind.

The RCMP refuses to investigate, and to be truthful, who can blame them? Why invest man hours and resources into cases of alleged misconduct of First Nations leaders, when the track record of the Department of House Arrest means there's scant likelihood of incarceration or restitution?

For their part, Indian And Northern Affairs have told concerned band members to "take it to the RCMP. "

So, everything is tied up in a neat little bow. Besides, whats a few missing millions in the grand scheme of things? First Nations band councils are reliable financial supporters of the Liberal Party of Canada - and there's always more where that came from.

See also: Darcey's take - "Big Chief goes to Hollywood" - on the missing Keeseekoose education fund.

Why Did You Shoot Rosemary?

ROSS: Yeah but Phoebs, what about the end? *

PHOEBE: What when Yeller saves the family from the wolf and everyone's happy?

RACHEL: That's not the end.

PHOEBE: Yu-huh. That's when my mother would shut off the TV and say 'The end'.

MONICA: What about the part where he has rabies?

PHOEBE: He doesn't have rabies, he has babies. That's what my mom said.

RICHARD: Uh, Phoebe, I don't think your mom would want you to see what's about to happen.

PHOEBE: What, what's about to happen? [starts watching] I've never seen this part before. Hey, Travis, watcha doin' with that gun? Oh no, no no Travis, put down the gun. No no no no, ...

Posted by Kate at 12:17 AM | Comments (19) | TrackBack

Al-Zarqawi Dead?

Please let this be true.

Related: Family "severs links till doomsday" .... perhaps because it's finally safe to say it out loud?

Debka has more;

Exclusive: US forces and forensic experts are examining the bodies of eight high-ranking al Qaeda leaders in Mosul to find out if their chief Abu Musab al- Zarqawi is among them.

November 20, 2005, 8:28 PM (GMT+02:00) A sample of his DNA is in American possession for a match-up. The bodies they are trying to identify are of 7 men and one woman, who blew themselves up Sunday, Nov. 20, after their hideout in northern Iraq was laid to siege by a large US force, backed by tanks and helicopters. The bodies are burned black and unrecognizable. Four Iraqi security officers were killed and 10 injured in the operation.

DEBKAfile's military sources add that also Sunday, US and Iraqi forces raided al Qaeda sanctuaries in Baghdad and captured several suspects. They followed an intelligence tip which confirmed DEBKA-Net-Weekly's disclosure (Issue 227 Oct. 28) of the arrival of Zarqawi and his top team to Baghdad on Oct. 15.

Update: ABC has more (promising) details

Monday Update: The White House is throwing cold water on this.

Vancouver Shifts Right

There's a political risk in leading the world in civic sensitivity to the drug community with projects like "safe injection sites".

Your "base" ends up too stoned to vote.

Prepare To Be Outraged

(click on the image)

In other words, this isn't news.

29 - 27

University of Laval Rouge Et Or arrived in Saskatoon to face the Huskies for the Mitchell Bowl, riding a 19 game winning streak.

It's been six years since the Huskies watched Laval fans spit at them as they negotiated a scary tunnel onto the field. From there, they watched their mascot dangling from a noose, on fire.

Then came the raucous booing of the national anthem -- complete with a couple of guys running onto the field, madly waving Quebec flags as the strains of O Canada washed weakly over the frenzied crowd.

"And this was all prior to the game," recalls Doug Rozon, who played tailback on that 1999 Huskies team.

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, au revoir!

Operation Rudolf

If you want to show your appreciation for Canadian troops in Afghanistan, you can sign up to send a gift and/or thankyou note

A great project by The Canadian Colatition for Democracies, and it's tax deductable!

Pre-Election Posturing On Softwood?

It depends on where you get your news.

Check out these two versions of the same report by Andrew Panetta of Canadian Press.

And isn't this trade diplomacy at its finest? By using softwood to castigate Bush publicly for the purpose of pre-election posturing at home Martin is certain to move the issue forward with the administration - right into the "round file".

Odd timing, this escalation of rhetoric - except when you consider that Martin has more to gain politically in milking this dispute for the anti-American vote, than he does from negotiating a settlement.

"He who opens a school door, closes a prison." - Victor Hugo

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it" - Aristotle

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence." - Robert Frost

"I will continue to expose your right-wing, anti-people politics until groups like your won't dare show their face on a college campus." - Prof. John Daly

H/T OTB

No End In Sight

It's a quagmire;

Baghdad -- Police say a teenager shot dead at the Baghdad funeral for another teen was apparently targeted by his killers.

The 18-year-old was gunned down at a mosque in the city's northwest end this afternoon, sparking panic among 300 mourners in the building.

The funeral was for a 17-year-old boy who was slain by gunfire last week.

Cha CHING rattle rattle CHING

The sound of a terrorist, backpeddling.

Democracy Watch

The Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked 20 countries in the Middle East on 15 indicators of political and civil liberty, including right to organize parties, presence of an opposition, corruption,independence of the judiciary, press and religious freedom, and property rights.

INDEX OF POLITICAL FREEDOM

Israel: 8.20
Lebanon: 6.55
Morocco: 5.20
Iraq: 5.05
Palestine: 5.05
Kuwait: 4.90
Tunisia: 4.60
Jordan: 4.45
Qatar: 4.45
Egypt: 4.30
Sudan: 4.30
Yemen: 4.30
Algeria: 4.15
Oman: 4.00
Bahrain: 3.85
Iran: 3.85
UAE: 3.70
Saudi Arabia: 2.80
Syria: 2.80
Libya: 2.05

h/t Real Clear Politics

Leaving Neverland

Hey Johnny, next time try Idaho.

The Federal Ministry Of Curfews

A Federal Court judge has reinstated Jean Pelletier as chairman of Via Rail, saying the government was unfair in the way it fired him in March 2004.

Justice Simon Noel said Pelletier - a Jean Chretien loyalist who was fired in connection with the sponsorship scandal - deserved to know why has was dismissed and should have been given a chance to respond.

The judge set aside the firing order and referred the whole matter back to the federal cabinet.
Pelletier was chief of staff to Chretien for 1993 to 2001 and was appointed to a five-year term as chairman of Via in 2001.

He was fired after Olympic medalist Myriam Bedard wrote to Prime Minister Paul Martin in February 2004 complaining she had been forced to resign from a Via job

Justice Simon has been in the news before.

22 Minutes: Your Time Is Up

This was overdue.

22 Minutes is, for the time being at least, being denied media accreditation to get access to the foyer of the House of Commons. This is because the Parliamentary Press Gallery, which is responsible for handing out accreditation, has tightened up its policies following an incident last June. Evidently, a crew from the Radio-Canada show Au-Dela du Real obtained accreditation by devious and duplicitous means, provoking a security scare, which in turn led the Gallery to declare that "non-news-gathering teams" could no longer be accredited.

Satire is good for politics, just as surely as the reverse is true. A healthy dose of satire can help keep a place honest, even a place like Parliament, where breathtaking displays of pomposity and overblown indignation are the norm, and are celebrated on the nightly news.

Besides, isn't the shtick getting a little old?

Reader Tips

Powerline's Paul Mirengoff is helping with an ABC documentary about the US political landscape, in which a segment about blogging is planned;

During a break, Stephanopoulos mentioned how difficult he thought it would be for him to blog. This surprised me since he was a key part of the famous Clinton "war room" that during the 1992 campaign produced hard-hitting responses to breaking developments on short notice, which is the essence of blogging. He demurred that, although he was fast by the standards of 15 years ago, he doubts that he could keep up now.

I thought everyone knew about this oilfield technology. Guess not.

Speaking of oilfields - remember those 17 greedy Albertans who won the largest lottery jackpot in Canadian history? They're still showing up for work. (Cue responses from certain "personalities" on the left about stupid Albertans).

"It is rumored that Earnscliffe Strategy Group will be contracted to coordinate the effort, that Abotech will be hired to set up the computer databases, and that the amount of funding increase for this registry will be well over 2 billion dollars."

OK. I'll up the ante. Find a Special Ops team with time on their hands and I"ll provide the bullet.

Add your own (on any topic) in the comments. I have a lot of work to get out today.

Because When People Are Employed, They Fall Into Hopelessness And Despair

Calgary Herald;

Swelling numbers of drug addicted teenagers in Alberta prompted the opening Thursday of two dozen new treatment beds.

Opposition Liberals blamed the booming Alberta economy for the problem.

Sigline Of The Month

"God is dead"- Nietzsche,1886. "Nietzsche is dead"- God,1901

(Spotted at Free Republic)

Calling Rachel Corrie!

India is accelerating the construction of a 2,500-mile fence to seal its border with its Muslim neighbor, Bangladesh. Didn’t the International Court of Justice say (to Israel) that such passive security measures were illegal – and much more objectionable than oh, say, sending suicide- bombers to play at weddings and bar mitzvahs?

The Whistleblowers: The Punishment Continues

From the office of Hon. David Kilgour, P.C., M.P., Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont, dated Oct.10;

An Open Letter
Re: Whistleblowers
Mr. Prime Minister

This is to convey my concern regarding the status of whistleblowers within our federal public service. Although Canadians value such persons highly for their willingness to stand up and speak out on injustices within the government, the response from management is almost invariably swift and severe punishment.

As we saw in the case of Allan Cutler, who almost lost his job and was shuffled around within his department, his attempt to reveal a scandal was ignored for considerable time. As far as I know, the only one who has ever thanked him for his good deed, besides Canadians generally, is Justice John Gomery. Does your government not believe he did the correct thing?

Although there has been some recognition of the difficulties faced by whistleblowers in their attempt to reveal unethical activity, Bill C-11 does not do even a barely adequate job. As Cutler himself points out in the October 17 issue of Hill Times - and he is one who is, as you know, more aware of the difficulties than you or I - C-11 is "still an 'anti-whistleblower' law and fundamentally and fatally flawed". He notes that, among other things, the burden of proof to prove that the retaliation was in response to the whistleblowing remains on the whistleblower; there is no public disclosure; the whistleblower is not assigned a lawyer by the government, while the 'accused' is; and most worryingly, there is no authority or responsibility to take corrective action.

Moreover, the case of Joanna Gualtieri - who is one of the very few public servants who has chosen to challenge publicly wrongdoing - demonstrates that the government is not interested in truth and justice but rather in using its vast resources to debilitate and wear down the truth-teller. During the past week, as your government publicly claimed that it will protect whistleblowers, the Department of Justice dragged Ms. Gualtieri back into court rather than consent to her request that she have a reprieve from the court proceedings for a few months to attend to and breastfeed her newborn child. Is this how you intend to "protect" whistleblowers?

Ms. Gualtieri's case has garnered significant public attention on account of the tax money squandered at the Foreign Affairs Department. Have you ever made any attempt to investigate the legitimacy of her claims of waste and harassment rather than spend much public money on lawyers to fight her? In my view, as a former Counsel with the Civil Litigation section with the Justice Department, it is tragic that such a capable civil servant should have had to spend the last ten years of her life defending her rights in a court case. With the treatment afforded Ms. Gualtieri,
few public servants are likely to dare take on 'the system' in the public interest.

Why are the Allan Cutlers, Joanna Gualtieris, Brian McAdams and RCMP Cpl. Robert Reads not given more respect by their peers in the federal public service? Why do they lose their jobs or go into early retirement? What could their careers have been like? And why has no one offered repair, restitution and reinstatement? Our whistleblowers - so necessary, as we have seen, even in a democratic society such as Canada - need to be protected by a serious piece of legislation.

I'd be grateful if you would provide this matter your consideration, and reply to me in a form that can be shared.

Better yet, when is he going to be at Rideau Hall to receive the Order Of Canada?

Prime Time Crime has more.

Consider this petition, as well; Cutler Meritorious Service Decoration Nomination

Keeseekoose Liberals

Greg Weston has seen the books.

After pounding the Liberals again yesterday, Conservative MP Jim Prentice was kind enough to share with us his 24 photocopied pages of St. Philips school bank statements for our reading horror.

They begin with thousands of dollars in bank machine withdrawals in Hollywood and Sea World, California, plus room charges for a week at the West Coast Anaheim Hotel.

Perhaps not satisfied with the educational value of jumping dolphins and movie stars, the cash-card-toting tourists of Keeseekoose apparently decided to hone their math skills at the Casino Regina.

In one day, the bank statements show withdrawals at the casino -- remember this is the bank account to run the local Native school -- for $500, then $300, then $600, then another $600. Three weeks later, in one 48-hour losing spree, the school accounts show 14 separate withdrawals totalling $5,600 from casino cash machines.

There were plenty of other bank card charges to the Native school that just keeps giving.

The records show dozens of charges for hotels and restaurants, shoe stores, hair salons and Canadian Tire.

The biggest single charges are for the local "Rangers" hockey team.

The records show direct transfers from the school to the team's account of $1,500 one day, $4,000 another, $2,000 a few weeks later.

In total, we count over $10,000 that flowed to what has to be the most well-financed little-league team in the country.

All of this happened back in 2002, but federal auditors never noticed a thing, probably because they would never have occasion to check what happened to millions of dollars in federal money given to reserve schools such as St. Philips.

Someone on the reserve did finally call in the RCMP, and two officials have been charged.

As for all the loot that went to the luckiest little league hockey squad, the president of the team was the then band chief.

He was never charged with anything.

Via Newsbeat1

Previous post here

All In Da Family...

Globe & Mail;

Liberal campaign manager David Herle was given an untendered federal government contract for $23,112 to provide advice on communications and polling about this week's mini- budget.

And another firm, Decima Research, was paid more than $320,000 to conduct polls and focus groups about the mini-budget and to test reactions to Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's speech on Monday.

...by a two-to-one margin, Canadians would prefer to have a spring federal election rather than a vote in January or February, a new Decima poll suggests.

Mr. Herle is the Liberal Party's campaign co-chair and Prime Minister Paul Martin's closest adviser. He also has had a long relationship with Mr. Goodale, serving as his adviser when Mr. Goodale was leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party in the 1980s.

Speaking of which... ouch!

This is a reader tips post for items related to Canadian politics - send a trackback or drop your own in the comments.

"For All The Foregoing Reasons, The Complaint Is Denied."

It's 1996 and you're a systems geek named Ken Woods. So, what do you register your domain name as? www.kens.com, of course.

Fast forward to 2005.

Ken's Foods Inc. v. kens.com

[...]

The Complainant is a leading producer of salad dressings and other sauces, sold under the registered trademark KEN'S. The mark, which the Complainant registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on April 29, 1980, has been used in commerce since 1961. The Complainant is the registered owner of the domain name , and operates a website on which it promotes and offers for sale various products sold under the KEN'S mark. The Complainant also offers its products for sale through retail outlets.

The disputed domain name was registered on February 7, 1996. Until quite recently, the disputed domain name has been used to direct Internet users to a personal website maintained by Ken Woods.1 Websites of this nature are commonly referred to as "blogs" or weblogs. A blog essentially is a diary or journal, typically written in a personal tone, where the writer or "blogger" presents his or her observations on various topics. Blogs typically contain links to other websites as well.

[...]

The Complainant asserts that the disputed domain name is identical to its KEN'S mark. According to the Complainant, the KEN'S mark is well known in the grocery industry, the mark is arbitrary and fanciful, and thus is entitled to the highest level of protection.

The Complainant maintains that the Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name. The Complainant contends that its rights in the mark entitle it to the exclusive use of KEN'S as a domain name. Given that the mark was first used in commerce 35 years before the registration of the disputed domain name, the Complainant asserts that the Respondent was aware of its rights in the mark at the time the disputed domain name was registered, or at least had constructive notice of the mark in view of the mark's registration some 16 years prior to the domain name's registration.

Even if the disputed domain name incorporates the personal name of the registrant, the Complainant contends that the Respondent does not have a legitimate interest in using the domain name to operate a blog as a platform to "rant and rave, utter obscenities, display pornography and links to pornography, and solicit the sale of the domain name for an exorbitant price".

[...]

The Complainant does assert that the Respondent registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling the domain name to the Complainant at an exorbitant price. The record, however, reflects no direct communications between the Respondent and the Complainant regarding the sale of the domain name at any time during the nine years that the Respondent has owned the domain name. The only evidence to support the Complainant's contention is a statement recently posted by the Respondent in his weblog that he has received offers for the domain name, that he is not interested in selling the domain name for less than $10,000, and that the Complainant should consider buying the domain name because, in the Respondent's opinion, the Complainant's customers "are not smart enough to use google".

The Minister Responsible For Democratic Renewal

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, the Honourable Member forNewmarket-Aurora was inviting participation in a little poll on the issues...

It seems to have been wrapped up early.

So, if we awake one morning in mid-December to find out the election campaign has been suspended on the basis of polling results, don't claim you didn't see it coming! It's just that "democratic renewal" we were promised!

update - the Globe & Mail's blog Dan Cook on politics has picked up this item as well.

The Wildebeest

For my readers of the self-described "left of center" sect - this is an important piece for you to read. I offer it with the best of intentions.

During the Cold War, one could always suspect that democratic socialists lusted in their hearts for Leninism, and might have given themselves over had the balance of power shifted eastward. This was at least a plausible explanation for their opposition to virtually any measure of Western defense, and their perpetual horror of anti-Communism. But no force, it would seem, should be capable of transforming even a lifetime of socialist ardor into sympathy for absolutist mullahs, 10th-century tribal warriors, decapitators, and circumcisors of women.

It would make no sense. And yet as the immense plumes of smoke and dust still were rising in strength from the ruins of the World Trade Center, and not a single shot had been fired or a single soldier sacrificed in what was to become the War on Terrorism, the worldwide Left mobilized instantaneously to assert that such a war—the particulars and extent of which it could not know—would be unjust.

It is true that since then many opponents and proponents of the war, despite being not even decimally aware of pertinent facts or relations, have managed to enlarge their unexamined notions into either complex and disconnected conspiracy theories involving oil, or manic crusader-atavistic visions of remaking the Arab and Muslim worlds, and that the dust from these ignorant armies as they debate with the finesse of English football hooligans rises into a plume of its own. But, like a mammoth perfectly preserved in ice and uncomplicated by subsequent infections, the Left's purely reflexive impulses immediately following September 11 are worthy of attention.

[...]

It was as if the thousands of crushed and incinerated men, women, and children—those who threw themselves into a quarter-mile abyss rather than have the flesh seared off their bones as they stood in the wind at glassless walls, the small children who died in terror after watching hysterical fanatics slit the throats of screaming stewardesses, and so on, for there are almost three thousand stories—simply did not exist. How does one explain such an egregious absence of sympathy (much less assertions that "they" deserved it, or that it was a work of art) among endlessly self-proclaiming empathetics whose stock in trade is to milk compassion even from the Rock of Gibraltar? This is a real rather than a rhetorical question, because it is significant of a great division.

Dearly De-parted

Contemporaries remember his fondness for women, sport, and human detonation.

via LGF

2005 Weblog Awards

Nominations are open with lots of categories. Nominations close on November 26th - be sure to read the FAQ before submitting.

Hosted by Kevin Aylward of Wizbang, I believe it's the largest of its type, with hundreds of thousands of votes cast. Kevin and crew are techies - they police the voting and eliminate those that suggest cheating, so please play by the rules.

One of the primary goals behind this bit of fun is to encourage readers to expand their blog horizons, so take time to check out all the nominees.

Beer, Saskatchewan

I'm going to the next meeting of the Delisle town council with a proposal.

Abotech Meets Pension Suit

Angry's chase of what appears to be an aboriginal company shell game has run smack into an iceberg.

David Smith, who sits in Parliament for the riding of Pontiac and claims to be an aboriginal, ran a company called Abotech, a computer consultancy firm, out of his home. Now the company is run by his wife, a nurse. Smith insists he has no idea what is going in Abotech.

Abotech has been caught up in a KPMG audit at PWGSC. Several contracts between Abotech and the federal government have been terminated. Why? No one is saying. Also, a bureaucrat named Frank Brazeau has been suspended without pay in connection with the audit. Frank Brazeau is also David Smith's cousin. Why was he suspended? No one is saying.

The theory is that Frank Brazeau directed contracts meant to go to an aboriginal businesses to Abotech. Smith took his cut, and passed the work to a non-aboriginal firm. The evidence to back it up is in his archive of Abotech posts.

But then came news about a $30 billion lawsuit going forward against the Liberal government. Unions representing 300,000 public servants are suing to recover pension surplus money that Liberal finance minister Paul Martin took to pay down the government's debt.

What does that have to do with Abotech?

Here's something the newspapers haven't reported. It turns out that the company that managed the RCMP pension fund, Morneau Sobeco, did not deal directly with the government. The government gave a lucrative contract to another company that would direct Morneau Sobeco in the management of the fund. In fact, that company set up the contract, selected Morneau Sobeco to execute the contract, and dealt with any contract amendments.

Presumably that contract included directing Morneau Sobeco to hand over pension fund surpluses to Paul Martin.

The name of that company? Abotech.

Was all that about aboriginal set-asides just a side business for Abotech? Was all this time the real story about David Smith's involvement in the management, and mismanagement, of the pension funds of civil servants under the direction of the Liberal government?

(In Angry's comment section, it's mentioned that the National Post has finally picked up on this story - if you spot it online, send along a link.)

What Happened To The Keeseekoose Education Fund?

Hansard, Nov.14;

Mr. Jim Prentice (Calgary Centre-North, CPC): Mr. Speaker, Keeseekoose is a small first nation in Saskatchewan. In the time between 1995 and 2001, over $600,000 was systematically looted from its education fund. The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has known about this since 2002 and this minister has known since he was appointed, but the minister refuses to help the new chief and council get to the bottom of this.
    
What is the minister hiding? Why will he not produce a forensic audit that shows who stole the Keeseekoose children's trust fund?
    
Hon. Andy Scott (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, audits are conducted routinely. If those audits find things that should go to the RCMP or other agencies, that is exactly what happens.
    
Mr. Jim Prentice (Calgary Centre-North, CPC): Mr. Speaker, all we hear from the minister is excuses and obfuscation. The current chief and council want to find out who stole their education money. The minister will not help them.
    
Will the minister admit today that he is trying to protect the former chief because he was the chief when the money was stolen and because he was the Prime Minister's Liberal candidate in the last federal election? Is this why the minister will not produce a forensic audit?
    
Hon. Andy Scott (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, that allegation is absolutely ridiculous.
    
Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville, CPC): Mr. Speaker, Mr. Quewezance, the former chief, was president of the St. Phillip's Rangers hockey team when it received repeated direct transfers from the school account. He knew what was going on and the Liberals recruited him to run as their candidate in 2004 while failing to investigate complaints made to Indian affairs about this matter in 2002.
    
The Liberals have hit a new low in stealing money from schoolchildren while protecting one of their own from investigation. Is this the new standard of ethics the Prime Minister promised us in 2004: nominating candidates who steal money from schoolchildren and then covering it up?
    
Hon. Andy Scott (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the new low is across on the other side. That is a ridiculous and scandalous thing to say.
    
Mr. Jeremy Harrison (Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, CPC): Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that over $600,000 was looted from the St. Phillip's school account of the Keeseekoose First Nation while a former Liberal candidate was in charge. We have the records for the school's bank account, which document a long list of charges made directly from this account to places like Zellers, Bata Shoes, Athletes World, Mark's Work Wearhouse and the Regina casino.
    
Why is it that Liberal candidates can get away with taking money from schoolchildren to spend it at the casino?
    
The Speaker: Order, please. I have serious reservations about the questions. This started with questions about funds that the government had some responsibility for getting back. These questions now appear to have gone beyond the recovery of moneys that would be either government money or money for which the government is responsible. In the absence of such a statement in the question or a question on that subject, I am going to rule it out of order.

UPDATE
Hansard Nov.15th - the questions continue and the story changes....

Mr. Jim Prentice (Calgary Centre-North, CPC): Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development said that the Keeseekoose First Nation was the subject of routine audits. I have a copy of the band's educational bank account records and there is nothing routine that I can see.
    
There was $600,000 stolen from the children's education fund and money spent in Santa Monica, California and in Hollywood at an exclusive jewellery store. Stealing money from school children seems perhaps routine to the minister, all in a day's work for a Liberal. Where is the forensic audit?

Hon. Andy Scott (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, first nations governments take accountability very seriously.
    
My department has advised me that this first nation identified financial irregularities in 2002 and 2003. The first nation acted appropriately. It called in the RCMP. Charges were laid. The matter is now before the courts.
    
Mr. Jim Prentice (Calgary Centre-North, CPC): The issue is, Mr. Speaker, what does this government take seriously? Three years after this matter was brought to the attention of the department, there has been no audit and there has been no prosecution, just more stolen money and this minister once again missing in action.
    
Is this not just one more big cover-up to protect someone, to protect the former chief, the defeated Liberal candidate?
    
Hon. Andy Scott (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, the hon. member's behaviour in this is shameful.
    
The RCMP was called in and took the appropriate action. Charges were laid. It is now before the courts.
    
Shame on those members.

***

Mr. Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton—Melville, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it is obvious that there is a cover-up taking place at Keeseekoose, but that is not a surprise because the Liberals do not want anyone to know what is going on at the reserve.

 The Indian affairs department spent $9 million to build a school for only 250 students. How can a school for 250 students cost that much? We know that over $600,000 was stolen from the school account. How much of that $9 million for a new school was stolen from the children of Keeseekoose? What is the minister trying to hide?
    
Hon. Andy Scott (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, the first nation reported this to the RCMP, which investigated. Charges have been laid. It is before the courts.
    
Mr. Tom Lukiwski (Regina—Lumsden—Lake Centre, CPC): Mr. Speaker, bank records show that money from the St. Phillip's school account was withdrawn from at least five different casinos in Saskatchewan. In fact, in Casino Regina alone there were over 40 separate withdrawals totalling over $18,000.
    
When the Liberals heard these allegations of theft and corruption, did they call the police? No. They called a nomination meeting because they had just found the perfect Liberal candidate. When will the minister admit he is turning his back on the children of St. Phillip's school?
    
Hon. Andy Scott (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, this first nation did the appropriate thing when financial irregularities were found. It called the RCMP, an investigation was conducted and charges were laid. This is now before the courts.

Star Phoenix Cleansing Quotes?

In googling around on the Keeseekoose story, I ran across this oddly presented quote in the Star Pheonix on Oct.28.

And while hundreds of people are being flown out of a remote northern Ontario First Nation because of an E. coli outbreak in the water, Health Canada says six Saskatchewan reserves are under a boil water advisory. Segments of the Peepeekisis, Standing Buffalo, Poundmaker, Sweetgrass, Keeseekoose and Cumberland House First Nations are under the advisory, but don't have E. coli contamination.

"I think if anything, the Native situation in Saskatchewan is better than the (Caucasian) situation," said Hans Peterson, executive director of the Safe Drinking Water Foundation.

Notice the parenthesis around the word "Caucasian" - in a quote, no less.

Why? Did Hans Peterson skip a word? Or did the writers - Janet French, Julie Saccone and Dan Jungwirth - decide to use "Caucasian" in place of something else?

Could it be that "white" has joined the growing list of words considered too politically incorrect to grace the pages of our fair paper, even for use in a direct quote?

I'd love to hear an explanation.

Uh Oh...

The Honorable Member from Newmarket-Aurora is running a little poll on the "the most important issue facing constituents".

And If That Doesn't Teach You, You're Grounded

It's back!

Tax Cut Revolt

CBC viewers respond to the Goodale Carrot dangled yesterday;

"Dear Mr. Martin and Mr. Goodale! I must say as a member of the middle class (or so I'm told ) that for a measly 2% income tax, one percent of which won't take effect until 2010, let me turn my other cheek so that you can slap it as well."

continuing updates below

And about that surplus - "Either" 13.4 "Or" 8.2 - the media seems confused.

Calgary Grit; "The guy I'm really looking for, wink, is Mr. Bribe, wink, wink"

"Hacks & Wonks" - quotes from the memory hole.

Some folks aren't willing to wait to get their money back from the scratch and clawback Liberals. "Federal unions representing more than 300,000 public servants are in court today for their unprecedented lawsuit against the government to repay the $30 billion it siphoned from workers' pension plans ".

We're A Voting Block!

Well, on my list of high points since beginning the blog, this rates right up there with the best of them - getting slagged in the provincial legislature by Learning MInister Andrew Thompson! From his throne speech reply:

" [And the] Bloggers are . . . weighing in [quote]: "Brad Wall is the real thing [says this blogger]. A gifted speaker . . . communicates with vision, optimism, conviction, humour . . . and apparently, without notes," wrote Catherine McMillan of smalldeadanimals.com . . .

Well we may have to let the Leader of the Opposition have the small dead animal vote, but I will tell you that the Saskatchewan people that are going to go to the polls in the next election are not going to be swayed by the small dead animals approach to portraying the Sask Party leader as a visionary."

The Saskatchewan NDP hold a two seat majority in the legislature, a couple of those by only a few hundred votes.

Now, far be it for me to presume to "sway" my readers, but Mr. Thompson - perhaps you should meet my sitemeter. As of 9 am local time;

Total 1,245,624
Average Per Day 4,091
Last Hour 253     
Today 1,108     
This Week 28,639

Now, what was that again about "the small dead animal vote"?

It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

Tagged by the Dawg;

Here are the instructions, not, I notice, followed by all: Find your twenty-third post. Pluck out your fifth sentence. Then--write a short fictional piece with the sentence as the first one in the piece. And tag five more people in the blogosphere."

23rd post, eh. Well, there's no "fifth sentence", but I'll go ahead anyway.

Oh Where, Oh Where Did My Fuel Rebate Go?

A week ago, Charlebois noticed the devil in the details;

Poor Jack.  He thought he had a deal with the Liberals but instead he's been made a fool.  On the NDP's website, they proudly proclaim the "first ever NDP budget" passed in 2005, referring to Bill-C48, which sure enough has passed and received Royal Assent. 

[...]

But when Jack came out saying he no longer supported the government, did he do so knowing about the details of C-66 and the Liberals near- contempt for parliament?  Check it out.  In C-66, the Liberals have introduced legislation detailing how that $900 million will be handed out.  Part 2 deals with energy efficiency and Part 3 deals with Public Transit.  (e.g. in Part 3, they actually name the Minister who will requisition the money, and count out how much will be spent each year!)  Bill C-66 has only just gotten to first reading; no one has yet even spoken about it in the House. 

Once parliament has expressed its opinion on one subject you can't go back and try the same thing again to get a different result.  Everyone thought C-48 was a fait accompli.  Now the crafty Liberals have stuffed enough new measures into C-66 that they will be able to dodge that charge (some good lawyers could maybe prove otherwise).  However, if C-66 isn't passed, then that $900M Jack promised every Mayor in Canada and that his website claims to have delivered will not materialize.

Basically, with C-66, the gov't lawyers will be able to say that all C-48 did was put $900M into the bank ready to be spent.  But C-66 is required to, y'know, actually spend it.  Heh and something tells me the gov't won't be in any hurry to pass C-66.  Surprise surprise, Jack's been double-crossed.  Get used to Martin & the Gang everyone, they're not going anywhere.

This rebate is a part of Bill C-66 so I wonder how sincere he really is:

"The bill was introduced on October 6th, 2005. No money will flow to any Canadian until the bill is passed by both the House of Commons and the Senate. To date, the Liberals have pulled Bill C-66 from the Order of Business three times – October 19th, 24th, and 27th – which seems to indicate that they are not interested in passing this legislation as a priority."

Respected Media Sources

Little Miss Attila;

"Well, mine are newspapers like the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. You know," he replies. "Respected media sources."

Respected by whom? I wonder. Other members of the media? I know those people. I have dinner with them every month. They are just as shallow and intellectually lazy as anyone else.

BlackJack catches the AP in an early iteration of a Bush poll numbers story making the claim that Libby was indicted for outing a covert agent-something with which no one was charged by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald for the simple reason that Valerie Plame was not covert.

Which raises an compelling question:  When the press begins overtly lying to you, where do you go for the truth?

Glenn Reynolds notes the White House is now pushing back at misreporting by the Washington Post;

Maybe the press should learn to use Google. Instead of, you know, hoping that we don't. . . ."

Add your own (related) finds in the comments.

Elections Canada - H0H 0H0

Here we go again - the media has turned out in force to push the "Canadians don't want an election" meme for the home team.

"Pollsters, strategists warn against Christmas election". One wonders how they find the time, given the volume of lucrative government contracts they're burdened with.

Where have we heard this before? Oh, right - last spring, when the weather was fair and the sidewalks dry and Harper had a 5 point lead in the polls. I wrote;

I've yet to hear much on radio this morning about this (on Rawlco or on CBC). Instead, they've been pimping the "Canadians don't want an election right now" meme, an assist for Paul Martin's "wait for Gomery" lifeline grab.

They say this as though there's something especially distateful about voting in June - we'd really much prefer a December call.

I can see it now - party signs amidst the reindeer displays. Santa in Liberal Party colours.

Return your ballot to: Elections Canada, HOH OHO.

"You're a mean one, Mr. Harper. You really are a heel. You're as cuddly as a Christian, You're as charming as an redneck American kicking the sick into the streets ...."

Jack Layton in that cute little elf suit.

So, elaborate, please. This alleged dread of elections is conspicuously silent on specifics. What precisely is the source for this Great National Reluctance we are supposed to be gripped with? An aversion to unprotected pencil sharing? The time required to study up on the letter 'X'?

How many Liberal supporters would do the same to keep them?

See also: Non Confidence 101 at Politics Watch.

Update
Huh. Check out the results of this poll at CTV at the moment.

Should the Liberal government agree with the proposal put forward by the opposition parties and call an election in January?
Yes 5625 votes (53 %)
No 4891 votes (47 %)

And these ones.

Political Advice For Paul Martin

Never sit with your back to a door.

Globe & Mail is reporting the knives are out before the writ is dropped.

Several prospective successors to Paul Martin as Liberal leader are quietly building their networks for a campaign that some are calculating could start soon after the next election.

John Manley attended a reunion of 300 of his former leadership organizers on Saturday. Immigration Minister Joe Volpe crisscrossed the country this summer meeting ethnic-community leaders with Liberal ties.

Paul Martin's minority government did achieve its primary goal - lasting longer[1] than Joe Clark's did.

Footnote:
[1] Of course, Joe Clark was his own worst enemy, in that he actually respected non-confidence votes.

Quebec Liberals Move To Preserve Two Tier Health Care

A reader urged that I give this item from Norm's Spectator wider exposure. My pleasure, as always! (Be sure to click on the link to read his brief comment.)

Proposed by the Laval Federal Liberal Association, it reads:

Whereas the Chaoulli decision has demonstrated that, in practice, the current health care system enables the wealthy to obtain health care without the normal waiting times;

Whereas waiting times in the public health care system lead to physical and psychological illnesses; Whereas in certain cases waiting times can lead to death;

Whereas the illnesses caused by these waiting times are a violation of the fundamental principles of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms;

Whereas prohibiting private health insurance has not proven to be an infallible means of protecting the public health care system or as a provision ensuring respect for, and implementation of, our values enshrined in the Charter;

Be it resolved that the Liberal Party of Canada shall request Parliament to consider other methods of safeguarding and protecting the public health care system other than by prohibiting private health insurance;

Be it further resolved that we shall support all efforts to reduce waiting times by means that go beyond simply prohibiting private health insurance plans;

Be it further resolved that we recommend considering practices that make room for private initiatives whose terms and conditions will be supervised by the government.

Who'd have guessed this glimmer of reality-based policy would break through the clouds on Planet Liberal to shine over Quebec?

Credible Threats Against French Landmarks

James Joyner reports that "Paris is on high alert after receiving credible threats against popular tourist sites, including the Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées."

Saskatchewan Income Supplement Program

How to apply;

" every single member of the NDP caucus except Sandra Morin is either a Cabinet Minister, An Associate Minister, or has some other post that enhances their pay."

Tough Talk

For all the condemnation of French interior minister Nicolas "the rioters are scum" Sarkozy for "inciting" the rioters to further violence, it appears the majority of Fench agree with his assessment.

[...]with 57% approving his hardline approach to the riots in the Parisian banlieue (and, by implication, his lively description of the rioters as "racaille" - scum). That was an important victory for him, as much in the context of his presidential ambitions as in the narrower arena of law and order.

Faced with that evidence of public support for the very person blamed by the have-nots for exacerbating the tensions, the prime minister, Dominique de Villepin had no option but to adopt the Sarkozy approach (without the insults) and spend most of his time on television on Sunday evening telling the nation of his initiatives for tougher policing and greater powers to impose curfews, with only a passing, vague summary of what the government intended to do about the huge underlying social problems. Sarkozy's 57% will make it ever more difficult for President Chirac and De Villepin to sideline him, as they would dearly wish to do. At the same time the poll result will be treated (unfairly) as the French white majority's rejection of the complaints of the disadvantaged and the discriminated against. More sinisterly, such public reaction to the riots and rioters has brought smiles to the faces of the far right.

In the wake of his bluntly worded speech last week, early signs that Bush isn't going to let go just yet;

Bush is thumping Ted Kennedy for his irresponsible statements on the war. "It is also regrettable that Senator Kennedy has found more time to say negative things about President Bush then he ever did about Saddam Hussein."

Farm Diversification

Turns out there is a way to make money farming, after all;

According to Gretchen Shappert, U.S. attorney for the western district of North Carolina, "the Warren Farms investigation is literally the mother of all crop fraud investigations. It was a result of a perfect storm of individuals who were involved in fraud."

Robert and Vicki Warren are among eight people who pleaded guilty to swindling the government and insurance companies out of more than $9 million in bogus insurance claims from 1997 to 2003. The Warrens were among the largest tomato growers east of the Mississippi; at one point they owned 26 farms in three states, including one run by Bobby Chambers.

"We grow different kinds of produce, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, just a little of everything," says Chambers, a beefy, baby-faced, 42-year-old lifelong farmer who runs a spread that borders the Nolichucky River in Cocke County, Tennessee.

According to trial records, he helped the Warrens stage a hailstorm to make it look like their tomatoes had been destroyed, so they could collect the insurance money.

Chambers says he bought a bag of cocktail ice and a disposable camera, and, on his boss's order, created a foul-weather tableau. "The way we did it, we was down taking pictures, out this row, and then we just stood behind it and throwed the ice over the top. To me, it looked like a hailstorm," says Chambers.

To complete the scene of devastation, they then picked up wooden tomato stakes and attacked the unsuspecting vegetables. "They had one Mexican who did all the beating, he beat every 16,000 of them. He'd just go through there and knock the leaves off of them," says Chambers, as he illustrates the activity with a long stick. "It made it look like where the hail had beat it up."

The government is so generous with crop insurance that it subsidizes farmers' premiums. Edwards says the USDA paid the Warrens more than $2 million to help them insure their tomatoes. He compares it to the following hypothetical situation: "Every year a bank gets robbed and they notice the bank robber is using an old getaway car and they ask, 'Would you like a car loan to have a nicer getaway car next year when you come to rob us?' Because the government is subsidizing the farmer's ability to defraud us for the coming season."

Burning Down La Maison  

After taking scrupulous care not to mention that the overwhelming majority of the rioters in France are disaffected Muslim youth, this opportunity to portray them as victims was too good to miss;

But more than 300 cars were torched across the country and 119 people arrested overnight. In the south, an attacker threw two firebombs into a mosque during Friday prayers, causing minor damage.

More coverage at Belmont Club, including evidence of censorship by a French press concerned with protecting the political status quo. Wretchard closes with this analysis of the French demographic from Mark Steyn;

Now go back to that bland statistic you hear a lot these days: ‘about 10 per cent of France’s population is Muslim’. Give or take a million here, a million there, that’s broadly correct, as far as it goes. But the population spread isn’t even. And when it comes to those living in France aged 20 and under, about 30 per cent are said to be Muslim and in the major urban centres about 45 per cent. If it came down to street-by- street fighting, as Michel Gurfinkiel, the editor of Valeurs Actuelles, points out, ‘the combatant ratio in any ethnic war may thus be one to one’ — already, right now, in 2005. It is not necessary, incidentally, for Islam to become a statistical majority in order to function as one. At the height of its power in the 8th century, the ‘Islamic world’ stretched from Spain to India, yet its population was only minority Muslim. Nonetheless, by 2010, more elderly white Catholic ethnic frogs will have croaked and more fit healthy Muslim youths will be hitting the streets. One day they’ll even be on the beach at St Trop, and if you and your infidel whore happen to be lying there wearing nothing but two coats of Ambre Solaire when they show up, you better hope that the BBC and CNN are right about there being no religio-ethno-cultural component to their ‘grievances’.

See Ed Morrissey, too.

Willis And Yon

COSBY: Getting stories out of Iraq is not easy. Bruce Willis found that out firsthand when he went over to visit U.S. troops serving in Armed Forces.

Tonight, we are rejoined by an independent blogger who is bringing
back some amazing pictures and stories from Iraq, Michael Yon. And also
again with us is actor Bruce Willis, who is back with us on the phone. It's great to have both of you here. You know, Bruce, I want to start
with you. Last night, we talked a little bit about what's happening over
in Iraq. You said the media isn't covering the full story. What are we missing?

BRUCE WILLIS, ACTOR: I am baffled to understand why the things that I
saw happening in Iraq, really good things happening in Iraq, are not being
reported on.

Michael has been over there, was embedded with the members of the
Deuce Four, you know, the battalion that actually won the battle for Mosul,
that -- Michael, correct me if I'm wrong -- these are the guys who allowed
the election to take place, the election that happened just, you know, a
couple months ago, to take place, which is, you know, just a monumental
thing. And it's not being reported on.

COSBY: You know, Bruce, you know, let's face it. A lot of
celebrities have not been over there. A lot of folks in Hollywood have
been very critical of what's happening in the war. Do you think, if a lot
of your colleagues in Hollywood went over there, saw it for themselves,
they'd have a different opinion?

WILLIS: I absolutely think that. I think we live in a global world. And I think that -- I think America is just too isolationist. And a lot of big choices are being made. You know, to say this is not our fight, when this is the same fight that this country fought 60 years ago and the entire world fought 60 years ago, for the same kind of terrorism, the same kind of thing.

This is not a new war. This is not a new kind of fighting. This is the same fight. And it's back. And it's time for it to stop.

COSBY: You know, we've seen some of these amazing pictures that we're
showing here. You know, Michael, there's a photo I want to show of a soldier and a baby girl, in particular. Here it is. Why is this photo so meaningful, Michael?

MICHAEL YON, EMBEDDED BLOGGER: Well, I shot that photo on a day when a suicide or homicide car bomber ran into one of our Stryker vehicles,
injured a couple of our soldiers, and, unfortunately, there were a lot of
children who had crowded around to wave at our people.

And the attackers had every opportunity to just wait a couple of
blocks and attack our guys later, without the children being around, but
instead chose to attack straight through the children.

And Major Bieger, who is in the photo, found the little girl -- her
name is Farah -- and decided he wanted to get her to the hospital as
quickly as possible. And so he picked her up, wrapped her in a blanket, and loaded her into one of our vehicles and started to take her to the hospital as fast as possible. And unfortunately, little Farah died en route.

We went back to that neighborhood the next day, and the people there
actually welcomed us with open arms. They welcomed us into their homes.
We got into a firefight there again the next day. And the people in
that part of the city began to give us more and more information about the
terrorists until it got to the point where -- it's very dangerous to be a terrorist now in Mosul, because...

COSBY: You know, it's incredible to hear these stories, Michael. I
mean, it's amazing what you went through firsthand.

And, you know, Bruce, you know, as you're hearing these stories from
Michael, I understand why your jaw just dropped when you saw these
pictures. Are you thinking, maybe at some point, you know, playing a role with the Deuce Four? Is that something maybe you'd consider?

WILLIS: We are talking about that right now. But it's not really
about the film. It's about these guys. It's about these guys who do what they are asked to do for very little money to defend and fight for what they consider to be freedom. And it's not just for this country. It's for the world. It is time for terrorism to stop. And the United States is the country that can stop it. And that's what they're doing over there.

And there is -- I have no idea why this country is not getting the
information that Michael Yon has, you know, access to, is, you know,
showing people. It's just not getting out, and it's baffling.

COSBY: You know, Bruce, in 2003, you admirably offered $1 million for
the capture of Saddam. I have to ask you, because just last night we had
on our show so many of those pictures, those horrific pictures of what
happened in Jordan.

And right now, we've got three thorns in our side. We've got
Zawahiri, of course, who is Osama bin Laden`s right-hand guy. You've got
Osama bin Laden himself. And then you've got al-Zarqawi, the Iraqi who
everyone believes is behind the mastermind of the attack, just those horrible
attacks on three hotels just last night.

Are you prepared even right now to maybe offer $1 million for one of
them?

WILLIS: Well, that was a conversation I was having with members of
the military. I've since been told that military men and women cannot
accept any reward for the job that they're doing. It was more about my passion for trying to stop Saddam Hussein.

COSBY: Would you offer that if somebody else, let's say a civilian,
is willing to turn one of them in and finally put this to an end?

WILLIS: Yes, I would. Yes, I would.

I want to live in a world, and so do the Iraqi people want to live in
a world, where they can move from their homes to the market and not have to fear being killed. And, I mean, doesn't everybody want that? Who doesn't want that?

COSBY: You bet. And, Michael, I'm going to give you just a few seconds. What are you most proud of? I mean, your pictures just really show the heart and soul there.

YON: I'd actually like to say something about Bruce Willis. He's one
of the men who has had the courageous to stand behind the troops. And the troops absolutely respect and love Bruce Willis. He came out to the Deuce Four redeployment ball in Seattle. And I wonder if he realizes just how much they appreciated that. And it's just so good to see a man of his stature throwing his entire weight behind our people who are in harm's way.

COSBY: It's terrific.

WILLIS: Thank you so much, Michael.

COSBY: And hats off to both of you guys, not just Bruce. And, Bruce,
thank you so much for being with us. And, Michael, keep up the great work you're doing. Those pictures are amazing. And please come back, both of you, anytime. Thank you.

Via the Corner.

Quick Links, Reader Tips

Next year's World Cup in Germany promises to be a "high-scoring" event!

James Joyner has extensive coverage on what some are calling George Bush's "Gettysburg Address" - the overdue pushback against though who have been exploiting the "Bush liked" revisionist history of the past months. Lotsa supporting links.

Mind you, with the New York Times leading the revisionist charge, small wonder the public gets confused.

Poor Lorne. Slept with his best pal Martin in the spring, and now he can only get his answering machine. The Saskatchewan premier is frustrated that the Liberals gave Danny "No Flags For U" Williams and the province of Nova Scotia full fledged energy accords to settle resource revenue "clawbacks" - while with Saskatchewan they are delaying and resisiting a similar agreement, simply promising to cut checks to the province after the fact. Brad Farquhar has more.

Old soldiers spot an enemy collaborator.

Drop your own in the comments.

A Civilization Destroyed Through Panty Hats

In response to a lofty statement by Andrew Sullivan, The Corner's Jonah Goldberg makes an observation that breaks out of the box, rips across the room and smashes through the wall of a oft-repeated argument against the use of "torture" during wartime. (I added scare quotes for a reason - the definition of torture has ballooned in the post-Abu Graihb debate so as to become virtually meaningless.) Nonetheless;

Can we stipulate that during the Civil War, the Spanish- American War, World War One, World War Two, Vietnam etc that Americans committed some truly horrible deeds in the process of fighting those wars? John McCain's hero -- Teddy Roosevelt -- applauded tactics in the Phillipines that Andrew would no doubt condemn. Did we "destroy" our civilization then? Did we "lose our soul"?

The argument that using horrible tactics will cost us everything is predicated on the assumption that such tactics have never been used. For if torture costs us our soul and destroys our civilization, how is it that we have a soul or a civilization to lose at this late date to begin with? These tactics may cause individuals -- like Andrew -- to lose faith in our civilization or its soul, but it is not up to him to declare such things null and void if we go another way.

Heh.

update Read this, too.

Written Over Water

On this Novermber 11 so many years after the great wars, Doug Chisholm helps us remember.

He's logged thousands of hours over northern Saskatchewan in his 1954 model Cessna 180, lately undertaking a special, solitary tribute to this province's fallen servicemen of the Second World War.

Born in Scotland but raised in Canada, Doug received his commercial pilot's licence from the Regina Flying Club in 1976. He headed north that year to La Ronge and a job as an air maintenance engineer (AME) at the provincial government's waterbomber base there. He acquired a 1954 model Cessna 180 the next year and since then has logged 4,000 hours in it, 2,500 of them on floats and 800 on skis.

But all that consumes plenty o' fuel and money. So, a few years ago, he got to thinking, "maybe I'll start taking some pictures." By coincidence, it was in 1997 that he got a call from a friend in Regina with a proposition: could Doug take some photographs of a certain lake in the north?

The request had came from a woman. Many years before, an island in the province's north had been named for her brother, killed in action during the Second World War.

From this landmark, called Sauter Island, Doug even gathered some rocks and sand, then sent them, with the film, to the woman.

He also began to wonder about her request. How many of the other lakes on the maps of northern Saskatchewan also had been named for Saskatchewan’s war dead? He called the province’s central mapping office, which sent him a list.

When it arrived, "I couldn’t believe it -- there were over 3,800 names on it, telling the name and the rank and the regimental number".

What that list didn’t tell was anything about the hometown of the casualty or anything else about the personal history of the deceased. "You'd think there'd be a computer with all that on it, but there wasn't."

Over time, Doug pieced together this picture: during the Second World War, about 91,000 of the estimated 840,000 people in Saskatchewan had enlisted in Canada's armed services. Of those 91,000, 3,800 didn't return.

These casualties included about 1,800 members of the RCAF, 1,800 members of the Canadian Army and 150 from the Royal Canadian Navy. Put another way, Saskatchewan (with about six per cent of the country’s population, had sustained fully 10 per cent of the nation's war dead.)

This was an terrible human toll that had even more impact in the years after the war's end. It was in those years that the provincial government's mapping branch, headed by engineer Abe Bereskin (himself a Canadian Army veteran of the Second World War), began a policy of naming northern geographic feature for the province's war dead.

Related:

Not all countries show the same respect for their veterans - nor are all Canadian veterans considered equal.

Cjunk remembers those who returned.

George W.Bush delivers a much needed rebuke to the revisionist historians working hard to undermine the current war on Islamist extremism.

"The stakes in the global war on terror are too high and the national interest is too important for politicians to throw out false charges."

Idealistic Pragmatist questions her reasons for wearing the poppy. I have her answer - it's not about you.

I invite others to share their own, in the comments or by trackback.

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf Now?

CBC;

A 22-year-old man from Oshawa, Ont. whose body was discovered Tuesday in northern Saskatchewan, was likely killed by wolves, says the RCMP. The man's body was found at Points North Landing near Wollaston Lake, about 450 kilometres northeast of La Ronge, Sask. Police have not released the victim's name.

An autopsy indicated he was likely killed by animals, according to RCMP spokesperson Heather Russell.

"All of the injuries discovered in the autopsy are consistent with animal bites," she said, "but you can't completely rule everything out until the investigation is complete." Russell added that the autopsy hasn't confirmed what sort of animals attacked the man, but noted wolves have been sighted in the area and there were tracks – believed to be wolf tracks – around the body.

It was likely those animals that killed him, she said.

If it's confirmed that wolves killed the man, it would be the first time in recent history that's happened in North America.

Those Wild And Hateful Bloggers

The architect chief victim of Rathergate is out flogging a book. It doesn't appear as though she used the time off since her firing to improve her research skills. The "anonymous" Bill Ardolino;

I will grant her one thing - the "school of sharks" analogy is pretty accurate, though her description of a helpless victim (a multi-million dollar respected professional news organization) is a bit ... off. And let's not forget who chummed the water.

Opportunity Of A Lifetime

An pacifist explains why he refuses to wear a poppy.

I refrain from wearing a poppy to criticize the use of military force, at the expense of soldiers, civilians and their families, by the state - any state - in order to achieve political goals, no matter how noble.

[...]

Of course, the question must be addressed, "Faced with the Nazi menace, what were we to do?" Mahatma Gandhi, who also faced oppressive imperial forces during his lifetime, said, "Non-violence is a weapon of the strong." When faced with oppression and injustice, sometimes it can be easier to lash out in violent reaction - one that will further propagate the conflict, perhaps sowing seeds of future conflicts - than to react in a constructive, non-violent way that will actually resolve the conflict, giving rise to things such as true freedom and democracy. What would Gandhi have done in Poland or Germany if he were faced with the advance of the Third Reich and witness to the holocaust?

Perhaps, in protest, he would have joined a line up of Jewish people waiting to board a train to Auschwitz. Would you have the courage to make that sacrifice? Would I?

Hopefully, we'll never have to find out.

Harper: "It's Over"

In an interview on 650 CKOM radio's John Gormley Live this morning, Stephen Harper was unequivocal: the life of this parliament will be over before the end of the year.

"Abuse Ruins Life Of Girl"

Via Canadianna, a Toronto Sun item that raised my hackles. Abuse ruins life of girl, 7

- An Oshawa trucker was sentenced to 17 months in jail yesterday for ruining a young girl's life with "despicable" sexual abuse....

When is society going to stand up and demand an end to this reprehensible behavior?

When are we going to demand that people stop declaring to young victims of sexually based crime that their lives are ruined before they begin?

"So sorry dear - you're spoiled goods. Going to be a long 80 years...."

A few years ago a friend revealed, almost matter-of-factly, that as a young teenager she had been the victim of a gang rape. She jumped through the counselling hoops of conventional psychological wisdom until the day she realized that she was still wallowing in the event, stretching a brief trauma into an extended one. She decided instead to accept what happened, put it behind her and get on with her life. She never looked back.

While not everyone has that type of strength, her story does tell us something. If we want to help victims of sexual crimes regain normalcy, it's time that society and the justice system stop sending mixed messages. We claim there is no shame in being a victim of sexually based crime, then try the cases in courts that "protect" identities and ban publication of testimony. We applaud their courage, then use "fate worse than" hyperbole equating rape with murder, as though the truly couragous victim would have choosen death over submission.

We tell small children that the crime is "not their fault" - but that their lives are ruined and childhoods at an end, placing before them the additional hurdle of self-fulfilling prophecy.

Sexual assault is a heinous, traumatic crime that deserves the full force of the law - additionally so, because of the predatory nature of offenders and the threat they pose to others.

It often requires a good deal of medical and emotional support for survivors to recover their health and their lives - but this is also true of drunk driving victims, those who survive beatings or robbery, survivors of spousal abuse - all of whom we expect to pick up the pieces and move on. Elevating the victim of sex crime to special status as the ruined perpetual "survivor" may be as damaging a societal response - perhaps more so - than that of 50 years ago, when they were told to shut up and get on with their lives in silence.

The Segregationist Politics Of The Left

One of my regular readers on the left side of the blogosphere said something in a private email about an individual who "worshipped at the altar of the white man". I haven't responded and I don't plan to. It wasn't so much that it didn't deserve a reply - it's just that when I read sentences like that, it signals that there's probably little use. It was a statement steeped in the segregationist politics of the left, where "people of colour" are not yet free to hold opposing political views.

Ruben Navarrette Jr., says it well in this item about Michael Steele;

Then there are black liberals, including some who don't even live in Maryland but have made it their mission to try to torpedo Steele's Senate bid. They include a left-wing blogger in New York who posted a doctored photo of Steele depicting him as a minstrel in blackface. Amid criticism, the photo was pulled. What remains, however, is a photo of Steele with an equally offensive caption calling him "Simple Sambo."

Lastly, there are those liberals and Democratic operatives who, while claiming not to defend such blatantly vulgar and distasteful tactics, go on to, well, defend them.

Maryland state Sen. Lisa A. Gladden says Steele should accept whatever personal attacks come his way. She also says that black voters are likely to be Steele's harshest critics because, as she puts it, "party trumps race."

Wow. Someone finally said it out loud. I'm sure Democratic Party national Chairman Howard Dean and other Democrats will be delighted to hear it. Imagine all the outreach dollars earmarked for the black community that might now be spent pursuing white suburban soccer moms.

Party trumps race -- not to mention, common sense. Some African-American leaders complain that black people aren't getting anywhere politically. They're right. That's because they've perfected the recipe for how to become politically irrelevant -- allow yourselves to be taken for granted by one party and written off by another.

[...] Breakthroughs such as the Steele candidacy threaten the party's monopoly by showing black voters that they don't need to fall in line with the Democratic Party to be successful in politics or life.

Liberals want none of that. They're all for people making history -- as long as those people are on their side of the aisle. They're all for minorities succeeding -- as long as they can claim credit for the success. They're all for minorities becoming involved politically and voting -- as long as they continue to vote Democratic in perpetuity.

If any of this doesn't go according to plan, then it's open season on anyone who gums up the works. Liberals think nothing of portraying blacks and other minorities who defect to the Republican Party as defective in some way.

I wonder how it feels to wake up each morning believing that there are in this world categories of human beings who are disqualified from holding certain political views on the singular basis of their race?

I know there's a word for that. I'm sure it will come to me.

Quick Links And Reader Tips

She has fame, fortune, a world class ego and a luxury hotel room she calls home. A long scraggly beard, 5" fingernails* and the process will be complete

A political story from Quebec that comes as a breath of fresh air;

Quebec City on Sunday elected a 68-year-old retired woman as mayor who didn't even run a campaign. Andree Boucher had no lawn signs, no volunteers, raised no money and didn't even have a formal platform! But she won -- quite handily -- beating out several high- profile challengers, including an ex-Jean Charest cabinet minister.

Strange bedfellows who are strangers to no one here...

Bill Roggio with an update from Iraq that you won't
find in the mainstream.

Speaking of which, surely they have a Special Ops unit and a bullet to spare?

Add your own in the comments

Beryl P. Wajsman

Beryl P. Wajsman isn't impressed with the Gomery report. Or Martin. Or Sheila Fraser, or the media or nearly anyone, it seems. Though, I like this part;

We did not find out why there is no Inquiry into the reported $167,000 in Canada Steamship Lines contracts awarded during Mr. Martin’s tenure as Finance Minister being in reality $167,000,000. Nor why there is no Inquiry into the millions of dollars of contracts awarded to Earnscliffe Strategies where many of Mr. Martin’s political operatives worked. Nor why there is no Inquiry into the $1.5 billion dollars in guarantees awarded under Mr. Martin’s watch as Finance Minister in favour of Bombardier whose lobbyist was Mike Robinson, a principal in Earnscliffe and national campaign co-chair for Mr. Martin, who admitted on CTV to having talked with Mr. Martin’s Chief of Staff on this file. Nor why there is no Inquiry into the CSL affiliates transferred to the tax haven of Barbados that, according to Radio- Canada’s “Enjeux” documentary, avoided $300,000,000 of taxes by taking advantage of rule changes enacted while Mr. Martin was Finance Minister. But then one can reasonably conclude that Mr. Martin was not “mad as hell” about these matters since some of them touched very close to home and were beginning to appear almost daily in the press just before the Auditor- General’s report in February of 2004.

Give it a read.

CFL Thread

Someone asked for an open thread on the CFL now that the league is entering playoffs. Ask, and ye shall receive.

One rule - no malicious gossip about the Roughriders' linebacker Trevis Smith - it's not only unfair, I don't need to be sued.

Fashion Advice For The Intimidating Feminist

(language warning)

"We All Know Where The Rainbow Goes"

Kevin Libin on the latest journalist to openly declare for the Liberals;

The Sun's Maria McClintock, who I hear has just been appointed to be Belinda Stronach's chief flack. McClintock's always been a tough reporter, but no one knows better than Belinda that everyone has their price. But exactly how long has McClintock been in negotiations over this gig? Up until today, she was filing stories for the Sun on the Gomery report and the rumoured election. On Wednesday, she was on a Mike Duffy panel, when she uttered this Belinda-ism:

MCCLINTOCK: Well, Stephen Harper is between a rock and a hard place here. He doesn't have the numbers. He has to be careful about being seen too close to separatist Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe and...[ellipsis in original]

So, if the McClintock thing is true—and my sources are good—that adds her to the growing list of journos who have been successfully assimilated. Here's just a sampling: Jason Moscovitz (from CBC to the BDC), Drew Fagan (from G&M to Foreign Affairs), Susan Murray (from CBC to Scott Brison's office), Ian Jack (from FP to Industry Dept), Jim Munson (from CTV to Senate), and Michaelle Jean, of course (RDC to GG). There's more here.

"Many journalists prefer the rich glow of influence that is only reflected in cufflinks and chauffeured cars. There have been more journalists named to the Senate--59, in total-- than doctors, bankers or financiers."

The Liberal culture of entitlement has long and generous fingers. A Harper government is indeed "scary" - the prospect of being on the outside looking in frightens the bejesus out of long time journalists and media pundits who understand that with a Conservative victory, the sweet little Liberal patronage pot at the end of their career rainbow is unlikely to be claimed - or offered.

Update : LIB Election Bias Hootenanny - it's a new project at Let It Bleed.

Comments: Stay On Topic, Please

Note to Maz2 and other commentors: Cut it out with the off topic links on these threads. I provide posts every day or two expressly for that purpose called "reader tips". I've given several warnings - I'm going to start banning you.

Everything You Need To Know On Income Trusts

In three short paragraphs - Keith Fountain whips up an "elevator brief". Upshot: A lot of hard working Canadians just watched $23 billion of retirement funds go up in a cloud of Ralph Goodale's smoke.

David Suzuki's Good Old Daze

It's A New Record

Beating the one set by the Luftwaffe by 6 days.

The Happy Pillion

If you've never taken a pillion before, and want a few tips;

Arrange a signal that they can give you if they are uncomfortable. Don't let them sit there scared witless at 70mph afraid to move. Take it steady to start with. Having a pillion on the back effects braking and acceleration. So allow time in judging gaps during overtaking and don't break suddenly. Stop frequently to check they are ok. Check for pulse.

Khadr Family Sued

On the heels of the US laying murder and conspiracy charges against Omar Ahmed Khadr for his role in a 2003 firefight in Afghanistan, civil suits are being filed against the Khadr family;

Meantime, in an unprecedented civil lawsuit filed in Utah federal court, Morris and Speer's widow, Tabitha Speer, are suing the estate of Khadr's father, who may have been killed in a firefight in Pakistan, for training his son to be a terrorist. Their attorney, Donald Winder, applauded Monday's charges and said the civil suit shows "we can fight terrorism on many fronts."

[...]

Morris, a 19th Special Forces soldier, said the shrapnel that blinded his right eye in the Afghanistan battle came from a grenade tossed by the younger Khadr. When soldiers rushed the compound, wounding the boy and killing all other insurgents, Khadr purportedly threw another grenade that killed Sgt. Speer. Khadr was arrested immediately after the July 27, 2003, battle. The Canadian government has protested Khadr being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, because of the boy's young age.
   
Morris said he decided to file a lawsuit after watching on television the boy's sister saying that the death of a U.S. soldier was "no big deal."
   
Last week, U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell granted a default judgment against the elder Khadr's estate. Morris and Speer's widow will now seek to recover assets frozen by the United States, Canada and the United Nations. Attorney Winder said the Utah lawsuit is the first filed by a U.S. soldier against an enemy combatant. He said that al-Qaida operatives are criminals - subject to civil suits - because they are not part a country or political body recognized by any world organization.

Banned For Life

Paul Martin has applied the "Public Safety and Anti-Terrorism" model to purge the the Liberal Party of Canada of Adscam suspects;

However, party officials admitted yesterday that only three of the 10 people that Mr. Martin banned for life from the Liberal Party of Canada for their role in the sponsorship scandal are still members of the party.

Nor does it appear that Mr. Martin can arbitrarily toss them out. Under the constitution of the party's Quebec wing, the party's board of directors can suspend or revoke a membership in the party, but only after giving the member notice as well as a hearing.

The party is also checking to see if it can even legally ban someone for life.

Reality TV

Has anyone else ever noticed that the wind never blows on Corner Gas?

How do they do that?

Reader Tips

Hugh Hewitt interviewed Victor Davis Hanson on the current state of European opinion over recent rioting; "absolute bafflement".

And via Kathy Shaidle this treat: Donald Rumsfeld in the German magazine Spiegel;

SPIEGEL: How concerned are you about Iran?
Rumsfeld: All of us have to be concerned when a country that important, large and wealthy is disconnected from the normal interactions with the rest of the world. They obviously have certain ambitions, powers and military capabilities ...
SPIEGEL: ...and nuclear ambitions...
Rumsfeld: That's apparently what France, Germany, the UK and the International Atomic Energy Agency have concluded. Everyone wants to have the Iranians as part of the world community, but they aren't yet. Therefore there's less predictability and more danger.
SPIEGEL: The US is trying to make the case in the United Nations Security Council.
Rumsfeld: I would not say that. I thought France, Germany and the UK were working on that problem.
SPIEGEL: What kind of sanctions are we talking about?
Rumsfeld: I'm not talking about sanctions. I thought you, and the U.K. and France were.
SPIEGEL: You aren't?

Hill Times notes that the Conservatives continue to bury the Liberals and NDP when it comes to party fundraising, though Paul Martin seems to have a pocket of well-heeled support in Edmonton!

...the Liberals received $307,367.67 from 5,888 people for $200 or less and 28 people gave $5,000. Twenty-two of the 28 people who gave the maximum come from Edmonton, Alta.

The SDA children's book recommendation for November: "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!"

It's a reader tips post. You know the drill.

Softwood: Time To Get On Side With The US

Just a tidbit from the Saskatchewan government's throne speech this afternoon - among the "vision quest" announcements included is a proposal to transform 10% of the arable land in Saskatchewan to "harvestable forest" over the next 20 years.

10% is around 1.8 million hectares.

OK.

If I understand the issue correctly (and I reserve the right to be wrong) the Calvert government is suggesting - which means promoting the concept with bagloads of public money - that thousands of farmers who currently produce grains and oilseeds convert their land and equipment to tree planting, take a multi-decade hiatus from economic return and then, I suppose, call in the commercial lumber harvesters to cash in at about the time they're ready to retire.

Well, nix that. The average Saskatchewan farmer's age is around 60 years. So, what we are really talking about is this - Calvert expects them to sell their holdings to large corporate interests who can.

I suspect that a lot of those on marginal farmland in the northern edge of the province's grainbelt would jump at the chance. On its face, "agro forestry" isn't a bad idea, nor is it a new concept - it's how much of the privately owned softwood lumber industry does business in the US.

Except, if I am not mistaken, there is well-publicized multi-billion dollar softwood lumber dispute centered on US claims that Canadian lumber production is currently subsidized through artificially low stumpage fees collected by the government on natural trees harvested from crown lands - fees so low that private American producers can't compete because of the actual costs incurred in growing and harvesting trees commercially.

So which side are we on, again?

Layton To Pull Plug?

So says Bourque;

EXCLUSIVE: Bourque has learned that NDP leader Jack Layton has decided to pull the plug on the governing Liberals, this in the wake of last week's Gomery Report, a weekend think about a proposed Liberal health care package, various arm twists from the likes of the CAW's Buzz Hargrove and myriad MPs like Ed Broadbent and Bill Blaikie, provincial heavyweights, and ordinary NDP members from one end of the country to the other. The bombshell is being let loose now in a speech to the Empire Club. According to sources inside the party, "It could be his finest hour, or it could blow up in his face", this referring to the very real risk that the next election may cost the NDP both seats AND influence due to the election of either another minority government or a new majority government for either the Liberals or the Conservatives. One Parliament Hill regular told Bourque that "Layton is smart to pull the plug, he¹s hit the end of the road. The only way to capitalize on what he¹s done is to go into an election while the Liberals are down. It¹s about opportunity, and it doesn¹t get much better than this." Already, phone lines are buzzing as NDP insiders reach out to party movers and shakers, all of them waiting, wondering, and watching for the big announcement's blowtorch ramifications. Developing.

An election, now? Think of Kashechewan!

The Libranos: What Media Bias?

Busted;

For several years, an exasperated Abbotsford businessman has been getting misdirected e- mails containing inside information about the Liberal government. Bill Sadar has seen details of planned political machinations, draft press releases, an e-mail containing racial epithets and references to sex acts. He's even received such sensitive data as credit card numbers.

But the final straw, he said, was a recent e-mail outlining a scheme aimed at discrediting two of Conservative leader Stephen Harper's star candidates.

The message was from Ruth Thorkelson, a long-time senior Paul Martin adviser who recently left as deputy chief of staff, and who says she is now helping MPs and candidates as a volunteer.

Her message, to Liberal MP Judi Longfield, outlined plans to leak to "a friendly media outlet" accusations that Tory candidates Jim Flaherty and John Baird are violating the Canada Elections Act.

[...]

Among the e-mails Sadar shared with The Sun:

- On May 10, Jean Collins, of the federal Western Economic Diversification Canada's Saskatoon office, sent Sadar a news release on a pending announcement, along with a draft copy of possible media questions and answers. It was intended for Gerry Maffre, assistant deputy minister at Infrastructure Canada.

- In June, the Liberal party's Quebec wing sent Sadar an invitation to a Quebec Young Liberals "mega happy hour" gathering at a bar. It also sent him an e-mail around the same time outlining Liberal party defence of ethics of party volunteers at the Gomery Inquiry into the sponsorship scandal.

- An e-mail from Liberal-connected Vancouver lobbyist John Paul Fraser urges political staffers from Industry Canada, Transport Canada, and Infrastructure Canada to help arrange a meeting with the Fraser River Port Authority and a handful of top bureaucrats. The subject was the port's demand for funds for dredging in order to prevent flooding.

- Sadar provided the racist and lewd e-mail to The Sun on condition that no details were published that would identify the government employees involved. However, it referred to sexual boasts by government employees and a reference to the sexual predilections of a person from a certain ethnic group.

While others concentrate on the leak of a planned smear campaign by the "Entitlement Liberals" using Government of Canada assets, I have different question - just who is this "friendly media outlet" Ruth Thorkelson refers to?

More, thanks to "Shaken" in the comments. Hansard;

Mr. Bill Casey (Cumberland/Colchester, CPC): Mr. Speaker, Ruth Thorkelson worked in the Prime Minister's Office for 10 straight years. She left only long enough to negotiate a $17 million grant from international trade to the Forest Products Association of Canada. Then a staffer in the office of the Minister of International Trade, Andre Albinati, followed that grant money to Earnscliffe which received $800,000 of the $17 million grant.

What is the point in having post-employment rules when the Prime Minister allows this abuse to go on?

[...]

When the Forest Products Association of Canada received the $17 million grant, it first gave $800,000 to Earnscliffe advertising, untendered. Then it gave approximately $8 million to the Burson-Marsteller agency. Now Burson-Marsteller is buying Earnscliffe.

Under the terms of the grant, they were required to produce four reports on how they spent the money. Will the minister make public the four required reports so we will know for sure that the grant money is not funding the purchase of Earnscliffe?

Dating Advice For The Intimidating Feminist

Oh, for Chrissakes - just pick up the phone and call him.

"It's not nice to fool Mère Québec!"

Montreal Gazette;

Agriculture Department inspectors swooped down on four Wal-Mart stores in the Quebec City area yesterday and seized 72 plastic tubs of yellow Becel margarine with an estimated street value of $179.28.

The margarine is butter yellow, which makes it illegal for sale in Quebec.

The measure is intended to protect the province's 3,000 dairy producers.

Andre Menard, spokesperson for acting agriculture minister Laurent Lessard, said 44 of the contraband margarine containers were seized at the Levis Wal-Mart, across the river from the capital.

Another 28 were discovered at a Wal-Mart in the borough of Beauport, he said.

"In Quebec City (proper), we think they withdrew them before we came," Menard added.

On Thursday, Maxime Arseneau, agriculture critic for the Parti Quebecois, tabled a margarine tub in the National Assembly and charged that Unilever Canada Inc., which makes Becel, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Canada were conspiring to bring yellow margarine into the province.

"This is serious," Arseneau chided reporters who found the situation humorous.

French Intifada: Land For Peace!

As rioting spreads beyond the "suburbs" and into Paris proper, Pieter Dorsman believes there's a war on;

The term "Paris Riots" has become a complete misnomer. There's war going on in France and that is coming from someone who is not given to hyperbole, but the facts have made that conclusion inescapable. It is almost unbelievable that the Chirac administration truly believed that it could somehow escape the jihadist wrath by staying out of Iraq and distance itself from America's War on Terror. The bitter irony is that rather than having his troops deployed in the Middle East, the French president may now need them at home.

The helpful Steven Plaut proposes a "two state solution";

So after leading the Solidarity-with-the-Baathists movement in Europe during the recent Gulf War, France is now enjoying its own intifada by urban Muslim resistance fighters, in suburban Paris. Of course, this is all on top of France's long history of supporting Islamist fascism and Palestinian terrorism.

Now, a few years back, during a trip to Israel, French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin urged Israel to make concessions for peace. More interesting yet, in documents relating to his visit, Jerusalem was called the ''capital of the Palestinian Authority.'' And what do the French consider to be the capital of Israel? Tel Aviv, of course. This trip followed by a few years a visit made by President Jacques Chirac, who used the occasion of his visit in 1996 to announce that ''Syria has a moral right to demand return of the Golan Heights.''

These French politicians may be on to something important. Never one to back down from a challenge, I have prepared a set of proposals for consideration by the French people, so that not only can they preserve peace in Parisian suburbia, but they too can achieve a full, lasting and just peace with their urban resistance opponents.

Via No Pasaran and Belmont Club where there's much, much more.

Also, the latest from Mr. I Told You So.

update
Rioting has spread to nearly 300 French towns and cities, and beyond - there are reports of copycat attacks in Brussels. Lots at OTB including differing opinions on the significance of the riots.

In the media, the sanitization continues: Angry filters a CBC report.

At Captain's Quarters, Ed Morrissey notes recent warnings are now largely forgotten;

Within six weeks of the GSPC [An Algerian Islamist organization] announcement, we see a massive and coordinated uprising originating from the ghettoes in which Algerian and other Muslim refugees and their families live. The "riots' have sophisticated coordination between cell leaders, using the Internet and instant messaging as well as cell phones -- an odd tool for a spontaneous demonstration where one neighborhood would hardly have those phone numbers at the ready.

Cosh has more.

Catching Up

Well, I thought blogging would be slow this weekend - as it turned out I was unable to access my account at all from Red Deer.

So, a belated welcome to those Edmonton Journal and Ottawa Citizen readers who may have dropped by this weekend. If you're confused about where the "quotes" referenced are - you won't find them on the main page. They were written by readers who added comments in response to one or more of my posts. I can't tell you where to find them.

To explain - some in the journalism field still struggle with the concept of blogging - consquently, one will often find remarks attributed to "smalldeadanimals.com" or other blogs, that are more properly attributed to readers of the blog who may - or may not - share the views of the blog author. That may seem like a minor quibble, but it's a device sometimes used by those in the mainstream to undermine the credibility of blogs - and about as intellectually honest as quoting a caller to Cross Country Checkup or Charles Adler and attributing the views expressed to the host.

Anyway - I've got a thousand or so emails to sort through, and surfing to catch up on - dog shows and the news cycle don't mix well. Things will be back to normal tomorrow.

And thanks again to Sean and Stephen for helping out!

PM's radio address leaked

Stephen Taylor has a leaked copy (in MP3 format) of PM Paul Martin's national radio address that is to be broadcast tomorrow. He already has rebuttals to the PM's talking points up.

A few news bits while Kate's away

Scott Brison tried to get away with a smear and wound up apologizing for it.

Both SDA and its commenters get mentioned in the Ottawa Citizen (no permalink -- see Kinsella's Nov 5 posting)

Liberals sinking like a rock in the polls. Meanwhile, Jack Layton is busy bending Martin over a sawhorse. The folks at Canada Free Press aren't expecting an election any time soon.

The riots are spreading in France as Islamist wingnuts are still on the tear.

Cuts in community mental health programs and the reduction of available beds in psychiatric facilities has pushed more mentally ill people into our prisons.

CAW failed to unionize United Church clergy. I'm actually a bit disappointed over this as I would have had a lot of fun watching the uproar if they had succeeded.

Feel free to add your own news tips in the comments.

Seven Long Days In Paris

In detail at the Belmont Club.

Long Weekend

I'm about to hit the road for the weekend - blogging will be light, if that.

Use this thread for your reader tips. Keep quoting brief, please!

The Enemy Of My Friend Is My Friend

News from the land that Foreign Affairs forgot;

Iran's hard-line government said Wednesday it was removing 40 ambassadors and senior diplomats, including supporters of warmer ties with the West, from their posts in a shake-up that comes as the Islamic republic takes a more confrontational international stance.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced the changes to parliament, saying "the missions of more than 40 ambassadors and heads of Iranian diplomatic missions abroad will expire by the end of the year," which is March 20 under the Iranian calendar.

Mottaki, quoted by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, did not specify which ambassadors were among those being removed.

But IRNA said they included the ambassador to London, Mohammad Hossein Adeli, one of Iran's top diplomats and a leading member of the pragmatic foreign policy wing that supports contacts with Europe.

The moves give the new government of ultraconservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the chance to purge pro-reform figures brought in by his predecessor, moderate Mohammad Khatami, and install its own supporters.

Ahmadinejad has taken a tougher line on a number of issues, particularly negotiations with Britain, France and Germany over Iran's controversial nuclear program. Hard-liners have criticized Khatami's government for agreeing to freeze much of the country's atomic activities during the talks, and Ahmadinejad already has replaced much of the negotiating team with hard-liners.

The new president, elected in June, also generated a storm of international criticism last week when he called for Israel's eradication, saying it should be "wiped off the map."

"BAD Americans! Softwood! Bad! Bad!"