Reader Tips

Reader Tips 90 Comments

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SDA Late Nite Radio. Tonight, for your delectation and pursuant to our Friday night old-time radio crime-detective show, here is William Gargin starring as Barry Craig in the Hay is for Homicide episode of Confidential Investigator (1954, 29:21). Jake is great in this show.

NB: Today’s COMPAS poll gives a value of 22.0 for Vitruvius’s Experimental Election Predictor, the largest value it has ever been for any party in the data I have since 1962. In other words, if an actual election produced a Ve that large, it would produce the largest majority we have seen during that time: on the order of 3/4 of the seats in the House. In my opinion, anyone who is suggesting that Mr. Harper should be replaced at this time, either as Prime Minister or as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, is either (1) simply unaware of these last three Ipsos, Ekos, and COMPAS polls, (2) non compos mentis, or (3) of questionable character.

Your Reader Tips are, as always, welcome in the comments.

90 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  1. Stephen at December 6, 2008 11:07 AM
    Steve, could you dumb it down a bit for us knuckledraggers and reduce the triple negatives?
    Most people want facts, not bafflegarb.
    Oh wait – doing so would reduce employment levels of “news” media, unbiased pundits and the professional screechers.
    0.01% unemployment is the Holy Grail, even if it means getting paid-for by government.

  2. “Silencing the voice of MPs elected by Canadians, shutting down the House of Commons and continuing to cling on to power when you’ve lost the confidence of that house is not democracy.”
    So says Boob Rae, who, according to Compass, has 4% support to be PM. Dwarfed by Steffi at 6%.
    manny,
    Why do you continue to publicly display your severely retarded mind? Do you have no self worth?

  3. ET “The coalition sets up the Bloc, made up of MPs who are electorally out of reach of over 80% of the electorate, as the sole vetting Agent in the House.”
    Ok, agreed. I just can’t figure out why you think that “out of reach of 80% of the electorate” is in any way relevant. What control would the electorate have if they ran in all 308? even won a seat outside of Quebec?

  5. “This reduces the votes of ALL other MPs to irrelevance. All that counts is that Vetting Power.”
    ET, you’re quite right.
    Based on their own rationale for a coalition, the Bloc holds the balance of power. The coalition can only function at the Bloc’s prerogative.
    The war needs to be re-positioned. It’s not the left vs. the right.
    It’s the Separatists vs. Canada.
    With this positioning they will be crushed, with no way out. And never to recover.

  8. From Angry’s blog:
    “This [Liberal] party is like the scorpion on the frog crossing the river who kills the frog, its the nature of the beast. They just can’t help themselves.”
    “Big Bad
    To be in bed with the Bloc, or not to be. That is the question. Wether it is better to make a mad, short term dash for power or to defer the immediate quest for power? Never met a Liberal who didn’t think that he was part of God’s anointed owners of the power of the Canadian government.
    With Rae as winner, come a new election, the Liberals will trade the chance of a short term hold on power for the long term pain of being in opposition as a political pariah associated with separatism. With Ignatieff as the winner, a sufficient sense of shame at this ill-considered move that the Liberals will trade a continued existence in opposition for a chance to rebuild and reconnect with the roots of the party and to build a true agenda. They truly have a great decision to make. I think they will go for Rae and the chance at a short-term hold on the levers of power. This party is like the scorpion on the frog crossing the river who kills the frog, its the nature of the beast. They just can’t help themselves.”
    “Liberal Leadership: Focused on the short term”
    http://stevejanke.com/archives/279292.php

  9. Polls mislead eg.CTV reported that 58% of Canadians believe that Harper should not have extended our military presence in Afghanistan. It should have been 58% of those polled —. As Kate says “don’t speak for me”Dona J,

  10. PiperPaul,
    Did you comprehend the quote, what do you think it says? do you understand its context (as in it is from a the editor of La Presse, a soft nationalist paper)
    It isnt that hard to understand, and if you think it is somehow justifying the coalition or excusing seperatists then maybe you are the self described “knuckle dragger”.
    Pratte’s editorial says the Cons are not being provacative to oppose the Blocs participation and that the oppsosition to the Bloc is absolutely legitimate, untainted and understandable.
    I think the quote perfectly captures the Quebec mindset. Let me put it terms you might get…..Telling your wife that her mother farts at the dinner table isnt the same as asking for a divorce. Is that a statement you have an issue with?

  12. irwin:
    PM Harper spelled it out clearly after he stepped out of the meeting with the governor-general.
    He appealed to the federalist parties to work with him for the good of the country.
    Although there are different visions among the three federalist parties, their primary interest is to make Canada a better place.
    “My Canada includes Quebec,” said Harper. ‘The Bloc’s Quebec does not include Canada.”
    Even though the MSM is, even today, trying to twist Harper’s words into an “attack” on all Quebeckers, his statement is pretty clear.
    Ontarians heard this message loud and clear and that’s why they are now on board.
    I’m guessing the average Ontarian, my sister included, does not want taxpayers’ money used to prop up the auto industry … they see that as Layton’s ploy as a spokesman for Big Labour.
    Incidentally, is it any surprise to anybody that the response ads were paid for by the Canadian Labour Congress? This not only shows who the sponsors of the putsch are, but clearly demonstrates none of the opposition political parties have any money.

  13. Watching manny’s descent into madness is probably one of the funnier side effects of Coup Scam.
    It’s an absolute treasure watching a left winger with a tenuous grip on reality let go with both hands and plunge into screaming-at-clouds territory.

  14. OIC: ISLAM, THE RELIGION OF PEACE, TOLERANCE AND COMPASSION
    With the multiplicity of terrorist attacks perpetrated recently by deviant and fanatic individuals, the General Secretariat of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has noticed a tendency of a section of the media, to interpose the word “Islam” in reporting these incidences.
    Islam, the religion of peace, tolerance and compassion, that sanctifies the human soul, and whose universal message is one of mutual peaceful coexistence among all the peoples of the world, regardless of their ethnicities, race, religions or languages, and which calls for kind reasoning and dialogue with all their fellow human beings, abhors and despises all such criminal acts and had enacted the utmost severe punishment for their perpetrators.
    It is frustrating to see some circles, still, maliciously trying to establish conceptual link between such evil and wicked practices and Islam, the religion that condemns, scorns and outlaws them.
    It is on the premise of this irrefutable fact that we, in the OIC, call upon all well-intentioned peoples of the world, not to give to these criminals any right to present Islam, a right that Islam itself denies them. Those who refer to the perpetrators, as acting on behalf of Islam, help them by offering them justification, anchor and premise that they don’t have or deserve. On the other hand, the generalization of the guilt of a few aberrant misguided individuals, to engulf the adherents of a religion of 1.5 billion followers is an outrageous judgment and amounts to an illegal collective punishment on a global scale. Moreover, any attempt to implicate all Muslims in such a wicked and wanton acts goes contrary to the well established principles of international law.
    It is therefore hoped that media will avoid resorting to any reference to Islam when narrating such events in order not to disseminate erroneous information that might jeopardize the basic human rights of Muslims, the world over.
    ………….
    Right. But what about Mohammad?

  15. “The worth of a State, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it; and a State which postpones the interests of their mental expansion and elevation, to a little more of administrative skill, or that semblance of it which practice gives, in the details of business; a State which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands even for beneficial purposes, will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished; and that the perfection of machinery to which it has sacrificed everything, will in the end avail it nothing, for want of the vital power which, in order that the machine might work more smoothly it has preferred to banish.”
    John Stuart Mill

  16. Yeah,Western Separatists, hypocrite.
    Posted by: manny at December 6, 2008 12:36 PM
    Canada vs the Separatists.
    Ran it up the pole and manny saluted. Guess it’ll work.

  17. Canadian soldiers in Iraq.
    “Attending the ceremony”:
    “Canadian Army Brig. Gen. Nicolas Matern, Multi-National Corps”.
    Mission Accomplished.
    Well done, loyal and true servants of freedom and democracy. Bravo.
    …-
    “Czech Republic at End of Mission
    Saturday, 06 December 2008”
    http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=24202&Itemid=128
    “Attending the ceremony, in addition to Voznica, Salazar and Ghazi, were Romanian Army Brig. Gen. Mihai Chirita, deputy director, Multi-National Force – Iraq CJ5 coalition; Canadian Army Brig. Gen. Nicolas Matern, Multi-National Corps – Iraq deputy commanding general – Coalition and Infrastructure, and Iraqi Army Brig. Gen. Sabah, Commander of Taji Location Command.”

  20. I was at the Winnipeg rally. Despite temperatures around -20°C, I estimate about 500 people there. The speeches were pretty good. Vic Toews went on for a bit too long, Rod Bruinooge and Shelly Glover had a short but sweet tag-team speech (I’m biased–Rod is my MP and friend), Hugh McFadyen was a little flat, and Charles Adler was a barnburner but considering the cold, too long-winded.

  23. Not very often there’s something written at the TorStar that would be worth posting here.
    http://tinyurl.com/56mey7
    Emily Mathieu
    Dale Anne Freed
    Staff Reporters
    It’s not the sort of formal, posed photograph often presented in remembrance of a fallen soldier. But for the father of one of three Canadian soldiers killed yesterday in Afghanistan it represents one of the most cherished memories he has of his son.
    “Believe it or not my favourite picture is this one, when he was little,” said Anargyros Diplaros, pulling a photo of a rosy-cheeked infant from his wallet last night at his east Toronto home near Kennedy Rd. and Eglinton Ave. E.
    “That was my little guy, always happy, even on sick days he never lost his humour or smile.”
    Pte. Demetrios Diplaros, 24, was killed alongside Warrant Officer Robert John Wilson, of Keswick, Ont., and Cpl. Mark Robert McLaren, 23, of Peterborough, when their armoured vehicle struck an improvised explosive device outside of Kandahar city.
    Their deaths mark a grim milestone, 100 Canadians killed in active duty since combat began in 2002, including seven from the GTA.
    Last night, Diplaros’ father, with his own two brothers, Nick and Peter, and their mother Martha, sat in the basement of his home.
    “I was proud of him. I was proud of what he was doing, serving his country. But at the same time, like a father, I was telling him to be careful and wishing all the best.”
    Demetrios Diplaros, born and raised in Scarborough, was interested in the military from an early age, inspired by images of his father, who served in the Greek military.
    “He would tell me so many times he wanted to be like his father,” the elder Diplaros said. “I said if that is what you want to do I am behind you 100 per cent, but always reminded him that the army and bullets and everything is not like a video game. It’s a different story. It’s real.”
    That pride prompted Demetrios Diplaros to join the army three years ago.
    Last month, the young soldier was home on vacation and told his father about the friends he had made among his fellow Canadian troops and the American soldiers they met along the way.
    “He was very happy. He understood all the circumstance. He knew he was there to serve his county,” said the father. “He told me it was a crazy situation there.”
    He left for Afghanistan on Nov. 20 and was to return home in April.
    Wilson was a career soldier and no stranger to Afghanistan, said his aunt Debbie Sedore, when reached at her home in Keswick last night. “He had gone over there lots and lots of times.”
    Wilson was born and raised in Keswick until he joined the military at 18. He had a daughter, Emily, and son, Owen, both under the age of 10.
    “We were always concerned every time he went over but that is the way they want to go. That is what they want to do,” Sedore said.
    If everything went well, this tour was supposed to be Wilson’s last. “He didn’t want to go this time, he wanted to teach,” said Sedore.
    Wilson had been asked to train men and women entering the military and was excited about the prospect, but his superiors tapped him on the shoulder one more time.
    “They asked him to come over one more time to lead those boys and he agreed to it,” Sedore said.
    McLaren was no stranger to danger. He was wounded by friendly fire on his first tour of Afghanistan in 2006 when a U.S. Air Force pilot mistakenly attacked.
    His father, Alan McLaren, when reached at his Peterborough home last night, called his son “my hero.”
    “He was living his dream. He was doing what he wanted to do, what he believed was right. He knew his chances – and he was still willing to go,” the elder McLaren said.
    His son was several months into his second tour of duty and was due to return home for a break in 40 days. It was to be his last tour.
    “This being his second time, he knew exactly what he was up against,” said his father. “It’s a tough one.”
    It was McLaren’s girlfriend, a tearful Michelle Shaw, who broke the news to his parents early yesterday morning.
    McLaren didn’t know when his tour would end, but he was working on a pictorial book about a soldier’s life in Kandahar.
    “He took our camera with him. He wanted to take good pictures,” said stepmother Jo-Anne McLaren.
    Now it’s his father’s dream “to finish that book” for his son.
    “That will give us something to look forward to keep ourselves occupied to know we’ve done something for him,” said his father.
    The three soldiers were all based at CFB Petawawa, and by coincidence, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was there yesterday for a previously scheduled morale-boosting visit. His voice sounded close to breaking as he addressed a crowd of troops and commiserated with their losses.
    “I know that this community will again, as you have in the past, embrace those families touched by the loss of these fine young soldiers,” Harper said.
    “But I have to tell you I never feel able to put the depths of my feelings at times like this into adequate words.”
    While the nation marked a tragic milestone, none of the troops at Petawawa is counting – to a soldier, each loss is keenly felt.
    “One hundred, one, 10, it’s all the same. It’s all brothers in arms, they’re all a close-knit family, we all serve for the same reasons,” said Pte. Rocky Gauthier, of the 2nd Service Battalion.
    Col. Dean Milner, commander of the 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group at CFB Petawawa, said the soldiers killed yesterday were part of a liaison team helping to train Afghan National Army soldiers to eventually take over responsibility for the area’s security.
    With files from Richard J. Brennan and Bruce Campion-Smith

  24. Outstanding. Next pub night I’m going to anonymously pay a few rounds for the soldiers that gather there.

  26. What if you held a Rally & Nobody Came?
    Well i dont exactly mean that, What i do mean is the Media is Not reporting the Ant-Coalition And all i have seen on ctv.ca is the Coalition Rally with a small blip about the Ottawa Non-Coaltion rally. There was even a phone call report from a ctv reporter at the Ottawa Rally saying their are thousand’s & that clip has disapeared.
    So what’s going on? A blackout?
    Looking at the Radar Southern Ontario is getting Pumeled by snow, Here in Grey/Bruce/Owen Sound we have the calm before the storm in the bubble, But the penninsula is getting it now.
    Take care all
    have a great weekend

  27. Can someone tell me who operates the “National Newswatch” website. It seems to me that the majority of news items they put on the site are either anti-Harper or anti- conservative. Any comments?

  28. I went to the rally at city hall here in Windsor. Not a bad turnout considering the weather. Quite nasty.
    If anyone else commenting here was there (remote possibility at best), I was the dummy with the ‘right wing attack dog’. I bring my Rotty everywhere.
    The modest turnout aside, it touched me as truly Canadian. It was low key and (yikes) very diverse. Old, young, union and non…You get the picture.
    Thanks for staying strong everyone. And don’t forget, this fight is far from over. We’ve basically got a couple weeks to refill our quiver, then back to the battle field.
    And, I’d love to see some photos from other rallys. I brought my camera, but it was all messed up with condensation.
    Later.
    Sam.

  29. Piper Paul, thanks for the clip absolutely priceless. ROTFLMAO. Back to reading the rest of the comments in a minute.

  30. “Can someone tell me who operates the “National Newswatch” website. It seems to me that the majority of news items they put on the site are either anti-Harper or anti- conservative. Any comments?”
    Owned and run by CTVglobemedia. Answer your question?

  31. I was at the rally in Victoria and was extremely disappointed at the turnout when I was there, probably less than 100. Driving home I got to thinking that really for an off the cuff rally the numbers weren’t that bad. Now with a six week hiatus we have to get organized and keep the powder dry. The unions, (auto , psac et al) are going to spend their members money to organize FOR the coalition so we’d better get organized for Canada and Democracy. To the rally organizers “Thank you” for starting this to the rest of you get off your duffs. This country has lost hundreds of thousands of people to establish this great country, the lastest hundred have given their lives to spread our ideals of democracy, if we let this coalition succeed then all of these sacrifices will have been for nought. Watch this and substitute Canada and Canadians where appropriate. ( Loading from page:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zwMtvCMLioBack to results)

  32. Very good turnout in Kelowna. Two hundred or so.
    The young people we’re obviously very passionate about preserving democracy. A grade 11 student initiated the rally organization – Nagan Ritz, I believe.
    Even before the rally speeches, most we’re already aware of the taxpayer subsidy thing !! Thanks to Jack & Gill & Yawn. A real sore point. Yes, in both cases 🙂

  33. Skip, NONE of the media are interested in anything against their Liberals and anyone they decide to link up with including the Separatists.
    Today is no different, honesty will only come from blogs and some talk shows where the REAL people give their views.
    Good column in the National Post by Terence Corcoran today, “The coalition of the union wage gap”. Sorry don’t have a link.

  34. SamS, I was at the rally this morning. It was a terrible drive from McGragor and I thought where was Windsor – Oh yeah it’s all NDP. I found it very sad and the tears just wouldn’t stop trickling down my cheeks. To think that are ancestors and the present men and women in our forces are dying for someone elses liberty and we have that mishmash trying to remove ours. I just hope that my face doesn’t appear on the nightly news. I am glad it was no colder than was. I looked for you in that rather hhhmm crowd but didn’t see you. LOL

  35. Manny, you seem just another of those who arrogantly think they know the mind, and therefore intentions, of the voter when they enter the polling booth. You don’t. You ignore any evidence (recent public opinion polls for example that totally repudiate that Canadians have no confidence in PM Harper) that refutes your “argument.”
    Did it ever occur to you that many people (I know quite a few of them), voted “against” Harper and the CPC, even though they were quite fine with CPC government, even if in minority.
    I have a friend who voted Liberal, but prefers Harper as PM. What don’t you understand about this reality?
    Many are flabbergasted at the arrogance of a coalition, that is supported by a party that elects members in only one province (it could be Saskatchewan and be just as wrong, so spare us your Western separatists are hypocrites crap), that demands immediate action, but proposes that a new government be appointed, that will take months to get up to speed, to present a proper budget; that still hasn’t presented to Canadians the full terms of their agreement, or how they plan to implement their policies.
    Many people feel the “coalition” not only wants to deny the right to vote on their approach, but wants to cancel the vote they just made.
    Look in the mirror before you call others hypocrites.

  36. bryanr @ 12:39 PM: I was at a rally and have a post I’ll probably make soon. But I’m really disappointed there’s not a dedicated thread here for this most important event. There are a few places here for commenting on the rallies. I think this topic needs to have its own place.
    The equally important story here is the despicable behaviour of the MSM, which have deliberately either ignored the details or egregiously spun them. The MSM’s complete lack of professionalism—forget that: their deliberate SABOTAGE of the truth—is absolutely disgusting.
    Do they care? No. They laugh.

  37. Postscript — Yes Sam S. my husband said he saw I guy with a dog. I didn’t my face I kept buried in my coat. There was a fellow there with his 3 little boys building a snow hill to put a Canadian flag on top. A somber but congenial group.

  38. So, let me get this straight.
    Stephane Dion is annointed unanimously by the coalition as it’s leader and future Prime Minister.
    A week later, they want to dump him and replace him with an interim leader and possible Prime Minister, say maybe Ralph Goodale or John McCallum.
    Then, after a leadership convention, they want to replace the replacement with, say Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff, who would then become the for sure, for sure Prime Minister, honest they swear it’s true this time.
    This is the stability that Canadians are so desperate for.
    I think we should all be reminding the GG about this “really solid plan.”
    Just in case.

  39. Disgusting editorial in todays Toronto Star:
    “Meme of the week: Coup d’etat”
    As Canada’s constitutional scholars basked in their 15 minutes of fame, calmly explaining the various possible constitutionally permitted outcomes of the week’s drama – a significant percentage of the country reacted less rationally. “A coup,” they spat – encouraged by Stephen Harper and his minions – in coffee shops and, by the dozens, in comments on newspaper websites. Never mind that the actions of the coalition have been perfectly legal, though undeniably surprising and arguably detrimental to the country; never mind that they were trying to wrest power from a party that received a mere 37.6 per cent of the popular vote. THERE’S NOTHING LIKE THE SPUTTERING OF AN UNEDUCATED BUT HARD-DONE-BY VOTER.
    ————–
    Good one. Insult half the country, and then cry the blues about plummeting readership, subscriptions and stock.
    This paper can’t die soon enough.

  40. Dec 8, 2008 is Aied celebration for Muslim
    mobarak
    Famous Muslims:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNK9Vk7tMUo&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n_f0etlghg&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSWtsB-k0rk&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB5QBzquBrU&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpAOr3mIjt8&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbOZcKhkfEA&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbOZcKhkfEA&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njiGZKFoyWQ&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zIlPa_f-_M&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkMovAguAlA&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpaLkldETt8&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n_f0etlghg&feature=related
    they may not really restricted to all rules
    but they can call themselves Muslim
    the funny one:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TJG0qwOuaw&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmh91e-kXQ4&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRcOns7uRLY&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zaSF7XsCOU&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olT3FtGo35o&feature=related

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