Stop the ACLU has a roundup of Best Of 2005 blog posts – if you want in on the fun, send them a trackback with your own submission.
It pays to lose for the Liberals!
Policing has never been rocket science. But it’s becoming more difficult with the rise of Middle Eastern criminal gangs in Australia.
The dumbing down of decency.

If you’re finding it hard to keep track, here’s a site with a list of the RCMP investigations into the Liberal government and civil service over the past three years – all 33 of them.
Via At Maggie’s Farm this observation on gun control from John Lott;

You don’t have to live next to the United States to see how hard it is to stop criminals from getting guns. The easy part is getting law-abiding citizens to disarm; the hard part is getting the guns from criminals. Drug gangs that are firing guns in places like Toronto seem to have little trouble getting the drugs that they sell and it should not be surprising that they can get the weapons they need as well.
The experiences in the U.K. and Australia, two island nations whose borders are much easier to monitor, should also give Canadian gun controllers some pause. The British government banned handguns in 1997 but recently reported that gun crime in England and Wales nearly doubled in the four years from 1998-99 to 2002-03.

Lots more there to debunk our fondest Canadian mythologies about the US crime rate.
The world’s leading consensus builder on climate change – George Bush.
Saskatchewan people – Working together to prevent crime!

Canadian Sentinel raises conflict of interest questions about Gomery appointee Raymond Garneau.
CTV’s Craig Oliver blames John Gomery for the rise of separatism in Quebec.
Share your predictions at Cjunkpundit.
China E-Lobby has initiated a “Canada file” – “…anything caught in the daily fish for news involves Canada and Communist China, we’re moving it to the top or near-top of the News of the Day.”
Jerry Aldini;

“Hey, when’s the last time you heard someone say, “You know what the problem is with this country? It’s that kids don’t have enough government-funded, structured learning before kindergarten!”

Drop your own in the comments.

And still, 187 people checked in here in the last hour.
Though admittedly, I popped out to do a small hand lettering job this afternoon, so who am I to question how people choose to spend Christmas day?
So, if you’re all truly that bored or just wearing off the turkey, and you find something good out there while surfing that you think others might enjoy, drop a link in the comments.
Update – Ask, and ye shall receive… this is a good one. Move over, beer and popcorn – meet “Olivia Chow Chow”. (screenshot)
Stephen Taylor has lots, lots more.

My Kingdom for a camera!

Look, up in the sky. It’s a bird, it’s a plane! No! It’s Separatist Chicken, and it’s after Prime Minister Paul Martin.
When Martin arrived at a Christmas reception Thursday at a restaurant in Gatineau, Que., he was greeted by a fowl sight – someone dressed as a chicken. The chicken held up a sign in French that read “Martin – debate,” an obvious shot at Martin’s refusal to debate Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe on federalism.

Thanks to “Ottawa Core”, we have the evidence!
Kathy Shaidle has a few words for five new readers.
J. Kelly Nestruck’s Actual Conversation With An Intelligent Torontonian who Lives in Cabbagetown This Evening.. I think he’s being generous.
This is a guy I could grow to like.
And from the comments, “steve” has the quote of the day;

“Layton, Harper and Duceppe have become so close they’re thinking of making a cowboy movie together.”

With Christmas approaching, I’d like to lighten things up. If you have other items of “lighter fare”, short jokes, funny blog posts etc. to share in the comments, feel welcome.

It’s been a busy week, and I’ve only been able to scratch the surface of the many, many you’ve sent in. .
2005 Awards for the year’s worst reporting!
Canada Free Press;

Now it makes sense why four years ago, Canadian Steamship Lines International, a CSL subsidiary, entered into a deal with Shanghai based Jiangnan Shipyards to build two bulk cargo vessels-at $45- million per ship.

The CBC has been forced to withdraw a Harper bashing cartoon.
“Senior government officials went into panic mode last fall after 46 top-secret cabinet documents went missing.”
This incident is a couple weeks old, but it’s worth a chuckle.

“Sometimes election campaigns can travel to so many cities and towns in a day it gets hard to remember what time it is or where you are. But Prime Minister Paul Martin appeared to forget what country he was in yesterday. During a series of interviews with Chinese media organizations, Mr. Martin attempted to explain to the interviewer how important the Chinese Canadian community is to the country. In fact, he announced that Canada has geographically moved its borders to be closer to them. “What we really are saying is we’re a major Asian country,” Mr. Martin told Omni TV, to roars of laughter from the Canadian media watching the interview.”

Add your own in the comments.

A story that asks for more looking into? Costco employee claims he was fired over KofC lesbian hall rental.
China E-Lobby: The decision by Canada’s ruling Liberal Party to give the pro-Communist National Congress of Chinese Canadians $12.5 million in compensation dedicated for victims of Canada’s 19th Century Chinese head tax

.
I’m sure they’ll spend it wisely.
Adam Yoshida: fixing bayonets!
Bush’s approval rating is rising fairly signficantly. Which is why you haven’t heard about it. And why the successful Iraq election story was about the 8th item in on the CTV National last night – just behind a polar bear story.
Meanwhile, Canada’s approval rating is dropping in the US. Well, we finally got them to notice us, eh?
Hong Kong is baffled. Free trade protests? Who can conceive of such a thing?
*Guess Who’s Coming to Iftar* – A meal to remember with Hezbollah. MIchael Totten in the LA Weekly.
You know the drill!
.

A few items caught in passing –
M.K. Braatanflies to High Level, Alberta;

“When I checked in my luggage I asked to bring on my laptop bag with me as a carry-on, and they said ‘Sorry, there isn’t room for that on the plane.’ Uh oh.”

Yes Candace, it is going to be a long campaign.
The UN Money For Smog Program ramps up, with Maurice Strong, Power Corp and the developing nation of China – of course – as leading beneficiaries.
Bob Tarantino debaffles polling;

When the different group of people asked on Day 10 provide a different answer than the group of people asked on Day 1, brows get furrowed and talk of “momentum” fills the air.

An NDP supporter finally gets the attention he deserves. Apparently, this …

… wasn’t working for him.
Add your own in the comments.

I’m heading out on vacation tomorrow (be back the 12th) and I’ve got a busy day of errands, so unfortunately can’t do justice to the many, many links readers have sent. A few picked at random will start you off, though.
China ELobby has a Canadian angle on Tibetan mining interests.
10 Most Fascinating People of the blogosphere, at Right Wing News.
Everything you wanted to know about Liberal scandals, and then some. They’re looking for volunteers. Who wouldn’t? Keeping track of the Liberals is a full time job.
Adscam: some get a curfew, some get their job back, some get a Costa Rican ambassadorship.
John Rosenthal onAP-Ipsos polling and why Americans aren’t French, after all.
And lots of stuff at Newsbeat1. As usual!
Drop your own in the comments.

I’ll be tied up in the paint booth today, so you’re on your own. Post your tips here, and I’ll be back later.

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.”

I guess he doesn’t know about the phone call I got last week…
Add your own in the comments.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Adam Daifallah has the rest. And don’t forget to buy his book!
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

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.

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!