I have a busy weekend, so don’t expect too much by way of new posts. A few quick reader tips, and you can drop your own in the comments.
While the media arm of the Liberal party worked itself into a lather over issues that would have been of only passing interest and nodding approval for a Paul Martin government, Canadians tuned them out post election. A National Post poll shows pretty respectable approval ratings;

The survey’s findings suggest Mr. Harper’s first week in power might not have been as bad as some of the negative headlines made it out to be, said Darrell Bricker, president of the polling firm.

54% approval. Which means people are weary of politics after a grueling election and not paying attention, or they’re consciously tuning out the over the top media hysteria for what it is. I suspect it’s a combination of both.
I mentioned to someone last evening at the SaskParty warm up that there was something missing in last week’s coverage – Stephen Harper looking like a deer in the headlights. That’s good. Instead of getting sucked into putting out brushfires, he’s letting them burn out on their own. Let them froth and fret and chase down attention-seeking backbenchers. (Note to Garth “so indignant about floorcrossing I’m thinking of crossing the floor” Turner – you look bad. Media hound bad. You need to look in a mirror and figure out whether this is about principle – or just about you. And that’s coming from someone who has been cutting you a lot of slack.)
Update – Turner seems to have come to terms with himself, in a post on his blog that finally makes some sense.
Now, on to other stuff:
Firetruck set sold separately
Bill Greenwood in the Red Deer Advocate, Muslim extremists lack perspective (for which there is no direct link, so I’ve copied his piece in the extended entry.)

Continue reading →

Bloggers: an army of irregulars. Advice for the BBC – from a BBC journalist.
Donato is now writing cartoons.
WSJ Online;

National Academy of Sciences said it had agreed to a request from Congress to assess how well researchers understand the history of temperatures on earth.
The study by the academy, an independent advisory body based in Washington, will focus on the “hockey stick,” a chart of past temperatures that critics say is inaccurate. The graph gets its name because of the sudden, blade-like rise of recent temperatures compared with past epochs.

“It�ll probably show up as an episode of the Sopranos next year”. By the way – as the latest media reports allege Gretzky was taped months ago asking how to keep Janet’s name out of the investigation – why did she bet on the Superbowl?
(Speaking of Janet Gretzky… listening to phone-ins on a variety of talk and sports shows over the past two days, the poor woman was demoted in the space of a few hours from “Wayne Gretzky’s wife” to “Janet Jones Gretzky” to “Janet Jones” to “that American woman he married” …)
Add your own in the comments.

This would help us meet our Kyoto targets!;

Hey, it�s just one province. You have nine more, plus three territories. You can keep the ones named after a dog (Labrador) and an SUV (Yukon) and all the rest. We just want the one with those nasty, dirty tar sands. We�ll practically be doing you a favor.

Yup, girly man.
Finally someone corners the Danish Islamic scholar who “sexed” up the cartoon controversy with fakes. More on the Rent-A-Riot business in the Muslim world at Powerline.
Irony, thy name is education. A bill promoting intellectual diversity on college campuses has passed the South Dakota House of Representatives.
Monte Solberg is shutting down his blog to – get this – work on his Citizenship and Immigration portfolio. And they said they’d be different than the Liberals. Well, the Liberals didn’t blog as cabinet ministers, and now Solberg isn’t blogging as a cabinet minister, I feel so betrayed.
Add your own in the comments.

Bread is now $50,000 a loaf in Zimbabwe.
David Emerson: “Did earn moves.” Heh.
He also has a few words for the Liberal Party.
Conservative talk radio host Laura Ingraham is blogging from Iraq.
Anchorlink goes back to a few pre-cabinet announcement predictions in both old and new media. Pretty grim percentages.
More thoughts here. Pretty reasoned ones, too, I’d say.
Add yours in the comments.

Damian Brooks; “They take a scale mock up of the helicopter, with seats and consoles and hatches and all, drop it into a pool, roll it over underwater, and teach you to get out before you drown.”
Andy McCarthy, on lesser known facts of the Bush “spy” scandal;

Of course, if a Republican President — acting during a shooting-war while American forces are in harm’s way against a foreign enemy which has killed nearly 3000 Americans in a domestic attack and constantly announces that it is planning even more devastating strikes — were to ignore restrictions in a wiretap statute in order to set up an early warning system to prevent domestic attacks, the legal analysis would be different, and such blatantly illegal domestic spying would obviously be grounds for impeachment … if not execution.

.
Oh, did I say Bush? Sorry – meant to say Clinton.
From the comments – a simple way to show support for the Danes – a petition is here.

Start by clicking on “kontakt os” (contact us) in the left side of the screen. Then, in the following screen, you’ll see a map and some phonenumbers. beneath them it says “Skriv til os” (write us) click it, and you’ll be asked for (from top to bottom) “Dit navn” (your name), “telefon nr.” (telephone number, which you dont have to write), next one you’ll recognise, “Tr�ffes bedst” (can be contacted between), “vedr.” (topic) and finally “indhold” (here you can write them). Please dont embarrass the west by writing racist remarks and such. Give them something to think about instead.

Comments are open for others.

McGehee on the “Academy” Brokeback boycott;

Why can�t the gay community learn to be tolerant of people who are different from them?

David Warren feels a Blogue Spring. (He is also known for predicting a Liberal majority.)
On January 31, a bill was narrowly defeated in the UK;

[…] with just 283 votes against 282 � New Labour�s Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, intended to prohibit speech or artistic expressions deemed insulting by religious communities. This was a narrow yet historic victory for freedom of expression, as well as a victory for Parliament against a despotic-minded Government. Liberal-Democratic spokesman Evan Harris commented: �The Government just failed to understand that they can�t take liberties with freedom of expression.�

Sean McCormick on the difference between Islam and Christianity.
Ouch;

” It is difficult to turn a page of The Great War for Civilisation without encountering some basic error. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not, as Fisk has it, in Jerusalem.”

83 year old handguns issued to our military. Par for the course.
Comments are open for others!

Don Martin thinks he knows who Harper will put in cabinet. There’s a project for some enterprising blogger – gather together all the media predictions to see how close they came after the dust settles. (I think Saskatchewan MP Gerry Ritz as Ag Minister is wishful thinking. Tory Ag Critic Diane Finley from Ontario is the more likely prospect.) Here’s a more general list, at CBC.
And another at H&W.
Google takes a big hit.
“Three words: Hide Your Renaults.”
Greg Staples has a new url – http://politicalstaples.com – Update accordingly!
Via Canadian Sentinel;

Iran’s missiles are now ready to strike Western targets, and as soon as the instructions arrive from Ali Khamenei, we will launch our missiles at their cities and installations.”These attacks will come against the US and the UK. In fact, they will target the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel because as Abbasi has said these nations “are all the children of the same mother” meaning the United Kingdom.

Add your own in the comments.

It didn’t take long for Michaelle Jean to pick up where Queen Adrienne left off.
When punditry were speculating post election that Harper would wait several months before doing anything substantive in government,it was a sign that they don’t know very much about Harper. Or Albertans. Or Western Canadian conservatives, for that matter.
(Which should come as no surprise – I understand that over the weekend Jane Taber inadvertantly revealed on National TV she hadn’t actually read the Conservative Party platform. Journalism. In Canada.).
Damian Brooks offers good advice on the MCpl Franklin VC medal debate.
My thoughts on this orgy of Hollywood self congratulation? – if you want to know how culturally significant Brokeback is, try counting the number of cowboys in the theatre seats.
Fraud charges are laid in the DND computer billing scam.
Iran announces the end of diplomacy over their nuclear weapons program. Cool. Let’s just get this one over with.
Drop your own in the comments.

(link fixed) Usurping the left. My entry: Wheezy McFascistInstitute
Unsubsidized biofuels – a one day seminar hosted by the Frontier Center for Public Policy Info here.
Black Rod; “We thought we had seen the last of the Me-Me-Me School of Politics with the passing of Glen Murray. How wrong we were.”
The Islamic Congress of Canada’s Mohammed Elmasry is unhappy with Harper’s stance on the Palestinian elections. It’s a start!
The further left a province leans, the more spoiled ballots they turn in.
Requiem for a retiring Saskatchewan politician;

Good Luck Joanne, have fun with the four hours after business hours dealing with the paper work in this province. Also, better make it a store-front, not a home business, or you won’t qualify for your “lowest utilities” rebate. Oh, and don’t shop around for lowest prices for natural gas, because the Province won’t give you a provincial rebate on energy costs unless you do business with the Crown Corp.

Leave your own in the comments, or send a trackback.

Truth is stranger than ..oh nevermind. It’s Michael Jackson;

Pop star Michael Jackson took a shopping trip to a Bahrain mall Wednesday, covering himself in a black abaya robe traditionally worn by Bahraini women and a veil hiding his face, along with three children _ apparently his _ with their faces covered with dark scarves. […] He was wearing an abaya, a robe with long sleeves, under which his pants, white shirt and men’s shoes could be seen, and his head and face were wrapped in a black veil. He had black gloves on his hands.

Let the Americans do it! Border security in Canada – brought to you by the same people who’ve been running our national defense.
William Norton, Deputy Chairman, London North East Area Conservatives left a kind post-election note in the comments – they have Canadian election analysis up on their blog
Tim Denton is right on the money with this one;

The emergence of Michael Ignatieff is nothing but good; he will put a few new ideas into Liberal heads. By the nature of where he has lived and what he has done, he cannot believe the smug self-satisfied parochial Liberal mindset. He will inevitably bring the cappuccino crowd around to a more realistic appreciation of the world we live in. Let him do his work among the heathen.

The current Liberal mindset is not just damaging to our trade interests – it’s dangerous to our national security.
Scientific evidence that politics is stupid.
Mathematical evidence that we pay too much for it.
Telephone evidence that sometimes they get what they deserve.
Regulating blogs at the Opinionjournal – a new project by the left in America.
Radioequalizer on blogs and talk radio.
A Liberal campaign worker posing as a CBC reporter?
Why Stephen Harper is not Joe Clark. Or as someone called him recently – Joe Where?
And finally, the granddaddy of the Canadian blogosphere weighs in on the election results.
So many more that I wish I could use. Thanks again for all your contributions. Some days I have to weed through over 600 emails, so if you don’t receive a response or see your tip used, that’s why!

Air guitars, ad parodies, Paul Martin talking out his “ads” – going to almost miss this campaign.
Almost.
Andrew Coyne has an op-ed in the New York Times;

“Small earthquake in Canada; not many hurt”

Nealenews has a roundup of commentary from foreign newspapers.
Pollsters are advising this one will be decided by BC.
Got questions? Plug your postal code into Elections Canada.
Update – already readers are reporting that their postal codes “do not exist”.
Toss your own finds in the comments.

Taxpayers Federation;

For years, tax weary British Columbians have travelled to sales tax free Alberta to buy various products. The BC government has taken the unprecedented step in pressuring Costco to reveal the names of BC customers who shop in their Alberta stores.

The Oracle of Ottawa knows what it takes. Flattery!
Al-Quada VS Iraqi insurgents. Oh, goodness. Who to root for?
Eugene Parks shows up on the Shotgun and collects more evidence about my and Stephen Taylor’s shared business interests. -=| Insert joke here |=-
Iraq? Why isn’t this election about which leaders would send troops to Iran? Cause, we might just have to – providing we don’t wake up one of these mornings to a big shiny sea of glass.

How the Globe duped Toronto.
Jim Travers gives up on Paul Martin.
“I guarantee that you�re going to see things on this blog that will appear nowhere else on election night.”
Silent Running’s Shire Network New has podcast up on Canadian blogging.
Drop your own in the comments.

In April, a commentor at the Shotgun published leaked Liberal party talking points. I republished them here. A lot of it is patently obvious, but in hindsight, they sound familiar, especially the Gomery spin – considering they didn’t have his findings at the time.
At Free Dominion – questions about “heating rebate” cheques that are popping into people’s mailboxes and bank accounts, courtesy the “government”.
Euthanasia is cost effective. (Considering a former Saskatchewan NDP politician’s assertion last year that Canadian citizens have a duty to live healthfully and die quickly, so as not to burden the health care system, take this caution seriously.)
Meeting John O’Sullivan was one of the high points on the Western Standard cruise. He has a new piece out on the Canadian election asking Is there still a lumberjack under all that mascara? (link fixed)
CPC Saskatchewan caucus;

The Conservative Party’s Saskatchewan caucus today welcomed NDP Premier Lorne Calvert’s stated support yesterday for the Conservative plan on the fiscal imbalance.
The Conservatives’ Saskatchewan caucus chair said this statement of support makes it clear Stephen Harper has the right approach to fix the fiscal imbalance and co-operate with the provinces.
“It is encouraging to hear an NDP premier say we are on the right track,” said Tom Lukiwski. “Only the Conservative Party has the ability to replace Paul Martin’s corrupt government and finally address the fiscal imbalance. On behalf of our Saskatchewan caucus, I encourage all Saskatchewan voters to help provide the Conservative Party with a strong mandate for change on election day.”

It’s in his DNA to fight separatism, says Paul Martin. Turns out he’s more a lover than a fighter.
Oh, and as we’ve had our heads buried in a Canadian election campaign, Iran and Europe are getting ready for nuclear war. Iran has launched the first strike.
Add your own in the comments.

What’s good for the dinosaur…
A reader advises that Liberal candidate Andrew Telegdi “has plagiarized a chart listing the local all-candidates debates from the rival Conservative campaign. What’s the clue? The number to call for more information on the debates is 888-8300 – the campaign office of Ajmer Mandur the CPC candidate”
Well plagarize is a strong word. Let’s give the Telegdi campaign the benefit of the doubt and call them lazy.
The Infozone is noticing that the third party advertisers have waited for the final week of the campaign unload their guns on the issues.
January 17th Scandalpalooza! – or – another bad day to be a Liberal
A very good piece by Tim Denton – here’s a teaser;

Those of us who were born in the era of nation states have no innate sense of what it is like to have no control over one’s legal and constitutional environment. I can imagine that kids born in Canada after the 1982 Constitution are accustomed to the ground rules changing suddenly. Gay marriage, polygamy: all can be introduced easily when the apropriate agents of change decide it is time. Just run a challenge up to the Supreme Court based on the support of the Legal Education Action Fund and presto! there is no further basis for refusing a man several wives, or to run a swingers’ bar, but every reason to confiscate handguns from the law-abiding. Just ask the Court!

Add your own in the comments!

Peaktalk, on the media backlash against Paul Martin.
Blackrod on the old holdouts.
Michael Ignatieff’s secret life.
A piece on Alan Cutler. If you haven’t already, I strongly urge you to read this older one at the Western Standard from the “Libranos” issue.
Linda Williamson has noticed Paul Martin’s penchant for labelling millions of us as UnCanadian;

The sickening thing is that Martin is telling voters that his opponents — and by extension, the millions now considering voting for them — represent un- Canadian, “far-right,” anti-democratic, anti-woman, anti-gay, anti-human- rights and (gasp!) American views. And that the only Canadian way to stop the onslaught is to back a party that will make a drastic change to our Constitution by removing the limited power of Parliament to overrule the courts.

Add your own in the comments, or send a trackback.
Update: For those following the ongoing subliminal messaging at the Liberal Party website, this morning it features holes in the ground, surrounded by mud.

It’s a quagmire.

And quick links.
The Taxpayers Federation have been blogging up a storm lately. A good resource for other bloggers, too – add them to your blogroll.
The Liberals corner the widow and orphans vote.

“I have an idea, Mr. Prime Minister… propose a Heroes Fund like they’ve had in the States for years. Like the one that the NDP proposed last year and we rejected. “

Or maybe not.

“I would give everything in the world to have my son back,” said Schiemann. “I would say to the prime minister, keep your $250,000, keep your $25 million (and use it) so this doesn’t happen again.”

“When the New York Times and the Washington Post, both pillars of the liberal media establishment, take notice of how anti-American Canadian politics has become, you’ve touched a political nerve.”
India is dumping Kyoto.
Again, thanks to everyone who took time to send tips – wish I could use more, but just getting through email each day is a daunting task! (There are over 1,000 visits an hour here at peak traffic, to give you an idea.) If you don’t get a response, it’s because I simply don’t have the time to answer them all.
Don’t forget the other great bloggers out there just itching to feature your story – and they might have more time to deal with it!
Speaking of which – here’s one from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous;

Today the Ottawa District Labour Council and Shawn McKenney(sp?) of the NDP made a complaint to the CRTC about election bias at CFRA am radio. This station has not been toeing the Liberal line but instead has been interviewing all party contenders and giving quite balanced coverage of the election. The station has Lowell Green, Steve Madely, Michael Harris, Rob Snow and other talk show hosts who inform the public on all kinds of issues and is perhaps the only station that actually doesn’t pillory the Conservatives regularly. […] I only heard of the complaint on Michael Harris show…

A reader provides the link to this Sun column by Harris.
The email address of the Ottawa & District Labour Council is odlc@ottawalabour.org

I had a late start to the day here, and have stuff to do.
A few quick links;
Save Our Eardrums has dirt on Screechin’ Annie. Stephen Taylor elaborates.
Kathy Shaidle has advice for me.
Speaking of which – John – it is simply not possible to “make a mockery” of a crazy old aunt in the attic.
Lance Levsen reminsces.
Denmark – the unlikely front in a European confrontation with Islam.

From Northwestern University Press: Paul Martin & Companies;

Using Paul Martin’s business dealings as an example, Alain Deneault presents the Martin case as a symptom of a world-wide crisis of public ethics; demonstrates that it is part of a lawless global culture that increasingly allows the world’s largest financial transactions to escape all forms of control, regulation, and contribution to the wealth of nations; and spells out what this means for all of us.

Speaking of which…

(click for larger version)

Oh, what the heck! For old times’ sake this one too…

Those Bush/Cheney neo-cons only wish they had it so good.

So many of you have sent on this David Frum piece in the National Post, I just figured everyone had read it. In case you haven’t, here’s a teaser;

If there is any problem in Toronto, the Mayor insists, it is traceable to the United States: “The U.S. is exporting its problem of violence to the streets of Toronto,” David Miller complained on Dec. 27.

I think you’ll have an idea where Frum goes with this one.
Reality checking the Paul Martin policy towards China: “Whether or not Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party are “scary” is something Canadians will decide for themselves, but the prospect of Prime Minister Martin’s re-election is absolutely terrifying.“
Earnscliffe finally makes an appearance in the campaign – represented by a suitcase of cash. If you don’t know who Earnscliffe is, perform this SDA search for background.
Pascal Bighetty, chief of the Mathias Colomb First Nation raises the prospect of Indian terrorism. His “warning” has the ring of an “or else” about it.
Add your own in the comments.