74 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  5. Breaking news … the Large Hadron Collider experiment will fail. There is no “Higgs boson”. I have this on good authority.
    On a related note, the world will not implode on Wednesday. That is all.

  6. This is an interesting article by David Warren.
    Canadian consensus
    The prospect of a Canadian general election leaves me, and I would guess most of my countrymen, bored.
    Now, boredom comes in slightly different flavours, and I will admit that the emotions associated with betrayal enter into mine. But it is like the vanilla in the ice cream; one is so used to it. We have about five parties representing five slightly different grades of vanilla. The Tories perhaps anger me the most, because they promise chocolate chips, and don’t deliver. Well, maybe a couple of chocolate chips, but the irritation value of the false packaging more than compensates for them.
    http://davidwarrenonline.com/

  7. It’s late, so I hope all and sundry will forgive me for the following bit of doggerel:
    I have welcomed the dawn from the fields of Saskatchewan,
    Cursing the wheat pool and the god-damn CPR.
    From there I was Alberta bound, sinking in oil-filled ground,
    Bitching about the federals taking all our dough.
    From Vancouver Island to the Alberta highlands,
    ‘Cross the prairies and lakes to Ontario, my home.
    From the sound of Mount Royal’s chimes, down to the Maritimes,
    Something to whine about, this land of ours.
    In the land of the Midnight Sun, I’ve seen Northern Lights shine,
    Wondering why their vote counts ten times more than mine.
    Down in BC’s interior, I can’t see crosses burn,
    But the Libs told me, so I know it must be true.
    In the Lower Mainland, I’m a stranger in my own land,
    Can’t read the alphabet on any sign I see.
    I guess multi-cult is just great, so why assimilate?
    We’ll all get together and find someone to hate.
    (chorus)
    From there to Toronto, flying Mapleflot, don’t you know?
    Grumpy stewardess dumps hot coffee in my lap.
    Downtown, I meet media whores and drunken latte bores,
    Crying in their cups because Dion’s not the man.
    Then it ‘s drive down the 401, Montreal’s native son,
    Searching for poutine and a decent smoked meat meal.
    But the Arabs protest today, can’t get there anyway,
    Duceppe wears a hijab; his ears give him away.
    (chorus)
    SoI find my way to Halifax, land of the pogey stamps,
    Meeting all the people, nice as they can be.
    They cash government checks, watch the economy wreck,
    Williams cries loudest while he shoos big oil away.
    We used to be a great country, the True North strong and free,
    Now we’re all groups of losers, screaming for some dough.
    Guess I’ll just have to wait until Alberta separates,
    ‘Till then we’ll have to mourn for this land of ours.

  9. I want to know who this Rob Bagg fellow is, and where did he come from? He made some clutch catches for us, got some important first downs. He reminds me of Brett Ralph in Calgary, a guy that the defenders forget about, who manages to find the right place to stand unnoticed.
    An important kind of role player to have.

  10. We are a very diverse country.
    From sea to see to C.
    The more dee-verse we are, dee-wurse it gets.

  11. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/business/media/08msnbc.html?_r=3&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
    “MSNBC tried a bold experiment this year by putting two politically incendiary hosts, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel’s coverage of the election.
    That experiment appears to be over.
    After months of accusations of political bias and simmering animosity between MSNBC and its parent network NBC, the channel decided over the weekend that the NBC News correspondent and MSNBC host David Gregory would anchor news coverage of the coming debates and election night. Mr. Olbermann and Mr. Matthews will remain as analysts during the coverage.”

  14. English as she is spoke.
    Ad$Cam Jean Chretien: “A proof is a proof. What kind of a proof? It’s a proof. A proof is a proof. And when you have a good proof, it’s because it’s proven.”
    …-
    “Hearing problem hurts grasp of ‘music’ of English, Dion says”
    “His inability to effectively communicate makes many of his caucus members nervous, especially as he is trying to explain his complicated carbon-tax scheme to voters.”
    http://tinyurl.com/6j7ts8 (g-m)

  15. from column in Ottawa Citizen today (headline:some media balk over state-of-the-art Tory broadcast media)
    Oddest choice of rousing song to welcome a leader:U2’s Vertigo,piped in for Stephane Dion’s intro and outro’s at his Ottawa campaign launch yesterday.
    VERTIGO:”a sensation of whirling and a tendency to lose balance”

  16. Taliban Jack Layton’s Music: Cut’n’Run. Surrender.
    “This is a racket and it should be shut down,” she yelled. “We need a peace economy, not a military economy.”
    …-
    “MacKay demands NDP drop candidate over military remarks”
    “But the party says the candidate did nothing wrong.”
    http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1077616.html

  17. Several morning polls
    CNews poll
    Who do you think will win the October 14th election?
    The Conservatives 78%
    The Liberals 15%
    The NDP 5%
    Other 2%
    Total Votes for this Question: 1708
    Halifax Chronicle Herold
    If the federal election were today, which party would you support?
    Total Votes Received: 1985
    Conservative 650 33 %
    Green 96 5 %
    Liberal 355 18 %
    NDP 412 21 %
    Another party 41 2 %
    Undecided 261 13 %
    Don’t plan to vote 170 9 %
    [Star Poll]
    thestar.com Poll
    Do election campaigns influence your vote?
    Yes 76 19%
    No 309 78%
    Don’t know 7 1%

  18. Who do you think will win the October 14th election?
    The Conservatives 78%
    The Liberals 15%
    The NDP 5%
    Other 2%
    Total Votes for this Question: 1788
    http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2008/09/08/6699096-cp.html
    …-
    >>> On the same page at Canoe: The MSM left bias.
    “Tories’ face tough grilling at first early-morning news conference
    By THE CANADIAN PRESS
    “today’s unveiling of a new series of campaign ads attacking Liberal Leader Stephane Dion received no live coverage on any of the major national television networks.”
    “The Conservatives have received extensive coverage of past attacks ads – so much, in fact, that at least one series was never actually launched because it received so much free play in news broadcasts and on the web.”

  19. Now look what that Bush done did do.
    CTV staff sourly say, “The news was welcomed by some nations.”
    …-
    “Markets soar after announced Freddie, Fannie bailouts
    News of a U.S. government bailout for struggling mortgage companies buoyed the world’s stock markets on Monday.”
    From Comments:
    “Michael (Ottawa)
    This is probably the best thing a Bush government ever did!”
    http://tinyurl.com/5sdtbb (ctv staff)

  20. (Via SWJ) Dexter Filkins, Right at the Edge
    …But even after a joint inquiry by the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan, it remained unclear why American soldiers had reached the point of calling in airstrikes on soldiers from Pakistan, a critical ally in the war in Afghanistan and the campaign against terrorism.
    The mystery, at least part of it, was solved in July by four residents of Suran Dara, a Pakistani village a few hundred yards from the site of the fight. According to two of these villagers, whom I interviewed together with a local reporter, the Americans started calling in airstrikes on the Pakistanis after the latter started shooting at the Americans…

  21. Right on que this morning CBC TV news talking hairspray helmet Heather Hiscox after prattling about the bad news polls… chimes in with Harper’s “Hidden Agenda”.
    Didn’t even bat an extended eyelash…..

  22. Funny how the polls changed as soon as the election was called.
    Moncton N.B. Liberal MP has charged that Harper will “turn out the lights on the Maritimes”.
    Such hyperbole does not become a politician. More apropos for the Canadian Press. The bastion of Liberaldom.

  23. From comments section of G&M (Taber article re the Libs plane woes)..Jane mentioned that the Libs were touting plane’s capability of ‘landing on gravel roads’
    ‘It’s a good thing the plane can land on gravel…that’ll come in handy when the campaign hits the skids’

  24. Watched Radio Canada’s 10 o’clock news Sunday night and their analyst Michel C. Auger says that the Conservative Party is financed by ‘the private sector’. I guess that means Obama’s millions of individual small donations come from the “secteur privé” also.
    It is the Liberal Party which in the past had the most contributions from large corporations.
    I have written to complain about this blantant lie – Conservative organizers please note this lie that the Conservative Party is the big business financed party. It will be passed on again elsewhere too if we don’t keep an eye on this.

  25. (Via SWJ) Tom A. Peter, U.S. begins hunting Iraq’s bombmakers, not just bombs
    IEDs, the military’s name for roadside bombs, have posed the biggest threat for most of the war, accounting for the death of more than half of all US servicemen killed in combat. But since the troop surge began earlier this year, which is also when the military began to place a greater emphasis on counterinsurgency tactics, US military officials say IED attacks have dropped by 70 percent.
    Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians attribute the decline to a shift from targeting the devices alone to investigating and searching for entire bombmaking groups. Instead of simply detonating IEDs as soon as they found them, EOD teams began spending more time studying the devices, questioning locals, and trying to trace the bombs back to their source…

  27. nicola – you are right to complain about this lie. But although their intention was to create an image of ‘private corporations’, the reality is that the Conservative Party IS financed by ‘the private sector’; namely, the donations of individual citizens. Not businesses.
    The Liberals used to get lots of money from the large private corporations; that was their basis. Then, Chretien put in a law lowering the donation limit to, I think it was 5,000. Then, it was lowered again to 1,500.
    Chretien did this, in my view, to break the Liberal Party after He, The God, left it. He wanted to ensure that Martin failed..and even..that anyone after him failed. Chretien’s narcissism is enormous.
    The Liberals, as an elitist party, have no use for or contact with the peasantry. They move only in the Higher Circles of the elite in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal. The peasants are to be ruled, not interacted with.
    The Conservatives are the party of the middle class and have an enormous grassroots funding system. Their money comes from the individual on the street.
    As for lies, our Canadian MSM are firmly Liberal; they are part of this elite governing class and they are extremely busy in presenting lies and manipulation now – and this will increase as they work to get the Liberals back in power.

  28. LLoyd Robertson did an interview with Prime Minister Stephen Harper at Harrington Lake.
    view at CTV.ca

  31. …Conservative organizers please note this lie that the Conservative Party is the big business financed party. It will be passed on again elsewhere too if we don’t keep an eye on this. Posted by: Nicola Timmerman at September 8, 2008 10:36 AM
    Nicola – there is one reason, and one reason only that Mickey Fortier is in cabinet, okay? And it ain’t cuz his head is really, really shiny when the sun hits it.

  33. Absolutely maarvelous trumpet in todays “readers tips”. I never knew the trumpet could do that. Good on you Vitruvius. Neil Thompson

  34. Chretien did this, in my view, to break the Liberal Party after He, The God, left it. He wanted to ensure that Martin failed..and even..that anyone after him failed. Chretien’s narcissism is enormous. Posted by: ET at September 8, 2008 10:51 AM
    Pretty far off the mark there ET. Cretin dropped the donations limits to offer an appearance that the Libranos were reacting to adscam, and tightening the rules. Secondly, and with earnestness of the Cons, enacted Bill C-61 that restructured politiical party financing – tieing it directly to the treasury. A fully indexed amount paid per vote, entrenching established parties, and providing more certainty in cashflow to the parties.
    A true scandal to be sure: perpetuating incumbent parties, and making it more difficult for upstarts to form. Worse yet, all Canadians get to contribute to political parties. Whether they want to or not.
    Factually ET, you are financially supporting the NDP. Which was voted for by the Cons.
    Congratulations. You are helping to get Jack Layton and his party elected.

  35. Fariborz Haghshenass, Iran’s Asymmetric Naval Warfare
    As nuclear negotiations between Iran and the international community enter a more dangerous and uncertain phase, further tensions and confrontations are likely on an often-overlooked front: the vital shipping lanes of the Persian Gulf. Given its natural geographic advantages and deliberate military development, the Islamic Republic effectively holds the Strait of Hormuz — the world’s oil lifeline — at risk. And despite its overall defensive posture in these waters, Iran could take preemptive action in response to a perceived threat of imminent attack.
    In this new Washington Institute Policy Focus, Iranian military expert Fariborz Haghshenass outlines what form such action might take given Tehran’s efforts to greatly expand the role and capabilities of its unconventional naval forces…
    [Full report available in PDF only].

  36. An ARAB SPEAKS OUT: An oldie but worth watching again. IT may get taken of the http://WWW…... Contributed by an Alumnus associate
    Here is a powerful and amazing statement on Al Jazeera television. The woman is Wafa Sultan, an Arab-American psychologist from Los Angeles. I would suggest watching it ASAP because I don’t know how long the link will be active. It is surprising that the Arab financed TV station in Dubai would allow this to air. She probably, by now, has a very large price on her head. She is one impressive woman. This is not going to stay on the WWW very long.
    http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=
    *******

  37. Posted by: ET at September 8, 2008 11:06 AM
    Fortier’s a connected player in the circles of $big dough$. He’s got their ears.
    And Prentice’s ministry cuts the cheques. $25 billion dollars of them every year.

  38. Down with Bush, the Fattener of the Fertile Crescent!
    (Via Contentions) Tina Susman, Another Iraqi casualty of war: Their waistlines
    In a land where just staying alive is a challenge, Haider Kareem Said’s problem might seem trivial. He’s overweight.
    But that isn’t a mere annoyance or something Said can fix with diet and exercise — he’s 5-foot-4 and weighs 495 pounds. So last month, Said had a band surgically strapped around his stomach, an operation relatively new to Iraq that is proving to be a godsend for people facing an unusual consequence of the war: obesity…

  40. hardboiled – I’m sorry, but I don’t get the connection you’ve tried to make between Fortier and Prentice. Because one individual is ‘connected’ and because another individual ‘cuts the cheques’ means NOTHING. You haven’t actually connected the two.
    As for your opinion on Why Chretien cut the donor amounts – that’s your opinion. My opinion is very different from yours. So?
    Equally, your view that IF the taxpayers’ money funds X political party, THEN this means that an individual taxpayer is supporting X political party is an example of false generalization.
    After all, I could equally declare that are are helping the NDP. And indeed, you are supporting all the vapid and empty research projects on ‘Women/minority groupY/etc as Victims’ carried out via SSHRC grants; you are helping..etc.
    So?

  41. “This is not fair.*”
    …-
    “McGuinty shies away from Dion endorsement”
    “Premier’s election message: Treat Ontario with fairness”
    “fairness” x 3.
    “fairly” x 2.
    “fair” x 2.
    “fair shake” x 1.
    “That’s not fair.” x 2.
    http://tinyurl.com/66bdhc
    …-
    *STOPIGGY to Dion:
    ““Stephane, we didn’t get it. done,” Ignatieff responded. Dion. cut in with, “This is not fair. You don’t know what you speak about.”” (googoo)

  43. I believe Chretin was trying to entrench the Liberal Party believing they had much more support than the other parties. He was trying to do to the Conservatives what Harper is going to do to the Liberal Party. Bankrupt them. The added bonus for Chretin was the obvious swipe at Martin.Good governance, what’s good for the country, or the people, never, I repeat, never, factor into Liberal Party machinations. Read your history.
    Boy, if something happens to deter the oil industry in Nfld/Lab, ole Danny boy will be perty red-faced with extended digits. Worth paying for,twould be.
    Danny’s another boy who should read his platform. Tis all about co-operating (squeezing) with the Feds to do anything. I suspect Danny will spend the next decade or so dancing alone.
    That’s what happens when you have 2 left feet.

  44. So? Posted by: ET at September 8, 2008 11:40 AM
    Sigh.
    That’s the point. You are being compelled to donate to political parties. Compelled by the force of law. And to parties that you likely don’t agree with.
    That’s wrong. As wrong as having an un-elected bagman in governernment giving the wheres and hows to spread ‘policy’. They’ll drop him into a nice easy riding this time though.

  45. bud, I don’t see how Chretien’s reduction of donations to political parties could entrench the Liberal Party. Since their donations were primarily from corporations and were very large donations, then, reducing this funding base would reduce their funds.
    Relying only on the taxpayer fund of 1.75 per vote was risky, for surely Chretien knew that this meant a reliance on three big cities and the immigrants. Could this be maintained?
    hardboiled – every vote gets 1.75. This isn’t a payment based on population numbers. It’s a payment based on a voter, who is a taxpayer, and is therefore funding the political party that he supported. So, your statement that I am funding the NDP is incorrect. Only voters who voted for the NDP are funding the NDP. From their tax dollars.
    What about-
    Having to be in a union and paying dues to that union when you don’t want to do so..just in order to work;
    having that union take a political stance and providing publicity, workers and money (your money) to a specific political party which you don’t support;
    What about all the judges who are not elected; the Senate – none of whom are elected; the civil service writing up policies; on and on..who are not elected.
    So?

  46. The Green Party’s entire mandate is to increase their votes so they can collect more money.
    That is why Elizabeth May wants in on the debates – free advertising to reach the radicals. She actually promotes protest votes with no chance of electing MP’s or having any hand whatsoever in governance. The Greens use their money for militant radical special interest anti-government protests and extremism.
    We the taxpayers put more than $1 million in Lizzie’s radical hands last election – she wants more….like most radicals , to fund her personal vendettas.
    Sad times for democracy.

  47. So? Posted by: ET at September 8, 2008 12:22 PM
    ET, taxes are forcibly taken from people. If it wasn’t redistributed to political parties, might it not be spent for roads, hospitals, national defence, or returned as lower taxes?
    I know it is Monday morning dude, but grab another coffee for yourself.

  48. lmf and hardboiled – the only taxpayers who contribute to a political party are those who voted for them. Period. The fact that you and I may not like May’s views or the NDP’s views or whatever, isn’t relevant. Other people, taxpayers, who DO like their views and voted for them – pay this 1.75 per vote.
    That’s democracy. Each vote provides support. In addition to that 1.75 that the voter pays, they can mail in a donation up to 1,100 to that party.
    hardboiled – taxes are not forcibly taken from people. Taxes are found in all societies; they are the contribution of the individual to the functioning of the collective. In some cases, they were ‘actual work done’ – participating on building the roads, the harvests. In other cases, they are ‘in kind’ work, ie, money.
    The fact that this money is going to fund a political party – which represents a political point of view – so? Remember, the money given is equivalent to the vote given. You don’t support the NDP – and the NDP gets nothing from you.
    As for your remark that it would be ‘better spent’ on roads and etc – that’s valid for anything. Should X money go for a road or a ‘research project’ on Lesbians and Gays in the 19th c’? Well?
    I see nothing wrong with the person-who-voted also pays 1.75 for a political perspective. It enables his perspective to be heard in the House. What’s wrong with that? And it costs him far less than the 1,100 private donation he might have to rely on.
    By the way – sigh – you haven’t answered my other questions.

  49. The little bagman that could….and he really, REALLY wants to run this time!!!
    Michael Fortier, who was appointed to cabinet in 2006 despite not being elected to office, resigned from the Senate on Monday to run as a Conservative candidate in Quebec in the upcoming federal election.
    Fortier, whose appointment as federal public works minister by Prime Minister Stephen Harper sparked controversy following the 2006 election, has since passed on several opportunities to run in byelections.
    The lawyer and financier previously said he didn’t run for office in 2006 because he “didn’t want to run.”
    Fortier made headlines earlier this summer when he dismissed a senior member of his staff because the man had a romantic relationship with Julie Couillard last year as a company she represented was bidding on a big government contract.
    Couillard is the former girlfriend of Maxime Bernier, who resigned from the foreign affairs portfolio in May following Couillard’s revelations he had left confidential government documents at her residence.
    http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/08/fortier-resigns.html?ref=rss

  50. Craig Westcott will be running for the CPC in St. John’s East, retiring CPC MP Norm Doyle’s previous riding. This is a great candidate for the CPC. He gave a blistering speech @ NOIA against the Danny Williams’ handling of the offshore oil and gas industry found here http://tinyurl.com/6exl2m.
    Geoff Meeker endorses here http://tinyurl.com/5fd22s
    St. John’s east consists of the provincial riding of Topsail and is held by PC member Elizabeth Marshall, who resigned from Danny’s cabinet back when she was the health minister due to “interference from the Premier” within her portfolio. She is the only current member of the NL PC MHA’s to publicly state that she will stay neutral during the ABC campaign.
    This is definitely a seat the CPC could defend and keep. It will be close especially if NDP Jack Harris runs.

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