57 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  1. During the last election “Prime Minister Harper held up flavoured tobacco products and promised that, if relected, the Conservatives would crack down on tobacco that tasted like mints, bubble gum and banana splits.”
    Apparently Bill C-32 is now law, but because it is so broad-sweeping, it is effectively:
    “a ban on the sale in Canada of virtually all brands of U.S. cigarettes.”
    (Terence Corconan’s article cites Winstons, Marlboros, Camels and European brands such as Gauloise as falling within the banned criteria.)
    Who would have thought a Conservative government would be the one to effectively ban most American and other foreign produced cigarettes in Canada?
    On top of the deprivation of lost freedom of choice for legitimate consumers, the law will likely result in more contraband cigarette sales being sold to the market that Harper claims he was trying to quash (or was he just pandering for votes?), a potential trade war or punitive trade retaliation, and:
    A BIGGER, FATTER, DUMBER, NANNY STATE sponsored by your Conservative Government.
    Whether or not you will be personally affected by this new ban, in terms of not meeting stated policy objectives, contravention with the conservative principles of open and fair trade, and smaller, less interventionist government, this new law is stupid, stupid, stupid. Stupid.
    http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=5174a2f5-c582-49da-ba02-b850b3c9c6af&p=1

  6. Jim Henshaw nails the current CRTC/broadcaster/cable-satellite bun fight:
    “I grew up in South Western Saskatchewan in the 1950’s. The first time I saw television was at the two pump B/A (British American) gas station not far from my home. The two brothers who ran the place had bought a TV set while on a fishing trip to Minnesota, set it up in the station’s front office/store and erected a 30 foot aerial to bring in signals from North Dakota and Montana.
    There might’ve been Canadian TV at the time, but those big aerials could only pull in a signal from a few hundred miles away. And there were no Canadian stations within that distance of us.
    Since the gas station was right next door to the hockey rink, some of us kids would drop by after the after school game, crawl on the tractor tires that were always stacked in the office and watch some television.”
    http://the-legion-of-decency.blogspot.com/2009/11/tale-of-two-business-models.html

  7. Thank you for that selection tonight Vitruvius… I really enjoyed that, I’d likely never have heard anything like it. Well done Roby!
    Kate has in the past waded into some of the problems facing Hugo Chavez’ in Venezuela… (The foto of the D-9 Caterpillar…)
    an economist in Caracas, Miguel looks at the current economic trend…
    http://devilsexcrement.com/2009/11/17/venezuelan-gdp-down-4-5-stagflation-is-here-now-what/
    Alek Boyd looks at the corruption level, that is now of the level typically found in central african nations.
    http://alekboyd.blogspot.com/2009/11/venezuelas-corruption-level-equal-to.html
    Babalu’s usual focus is on Cuba, however… reporting on the level of drug trafficking in nearby Venezuela…
    http://babalublog.com/2009/11/caracas-cathedral-of-narco-traffickers/

  9. Bumper sticker spotted in and around Nashville TN:
    “Pray for Obama … Psalm 109:8”
    I’ll save you looking it up:
    “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”

  12. Can’t wait to take delivery of Sarah Palin’s book.
    It was just released yesterday and I have already read two very nasty reviews, just in our local paper.
    Life’s experiences have taught me that the more the mainstream media vent their venom, the more afraid they are of the contents and the author.
    Add to that the fact that the AP have assigned eleven “writers” to fact-check the book in minute detail.
    Given the above, I firmly believe it’s going to be a Blockbuster.

  13. Louis Reil murdered by the Crown: MP says
    ctv.ca nov 17.09
    Manitoba MP Pat Martin say’s Reil’s conviction for treason should be overturned.
    *Power Play Interview at article

  14. (PDF warning) Stephen Benson, The MAGAI(TM) Construct and the Northern Distribution Network
    The United States is pouring massive resources and risking precious lives of its soldiers in its efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, a part of the world most Americans could not identify on a map before 9/11. President Barack Obama has already increased the U.S. force presence considerably and is deliberating further increases in what may be the most portentous decision of his presidency. But his administration, as well as its predecessor, undercuts the rationale for engagement in this remote barren land by emphasizing only the prevention of future and perhaps catastrophic terrorist attacks on the U.S. homeland. As this paper argues, there is a deeper and broader strategic argument for U.S. engagement, shaped by longstanding global forces illuminated in a novel manner by the MAGAI(TM) Construct…

  15. government eavesdropping on an unprecedented scale (thanks dubya)
    3w.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/bush-concerned-successor-might-revoke-telco-spy-immunity

  16. Rasmussen Reports – Daily Presidential Tracking Poll
    Wed. Nov.18/2009
    -14
    Presidential Poll shows that 26% of the Nations voters approve of the way Barack Obama is performing his role as President.
    40% Strongly disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval index rating of -14. That matches(08/23/09) the Lowest approval index rating yet recorded for this President.

  17. I do not know or care how old raging tory or the iceman are but they are truly acting like a pair of immature spoiled punks. I guess that is why I don’t bother going to either sit too often.

  18. Re 1st post in this topic: I hear you, STS. The SOB has betrayed us on all fronts. He bailed out Chrysler and GM, banned incandescent light bulbs and cigarettes, and refused to follow thru on you know what promise. Harper, you are a fn traitor. Hear me?

  20. “Canada’s three largest carriers also approved the minister’s statement delivered at the Sept. 5 launch, according to correspondence.”
    How cute. Larry was kind enough to get permission before he launches a new law …
    Airlines helped craft Canada’s air passenger bill of rights: Documents
    By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News ServiceNovember 18, 2009 7:02 AM
    OTTAWA — The federal transport minister’s office worked in lock step with the airline industry to draft the government’s passenger rights campaign, despite concerns from the bureaucracy about how the plan was being developed, according to internal correspondence obtained by Canwest News Service.
    The Conservative government launched Flight Rights Canada last fall to inform air travellers of their rights, but only after airline executives reviewed several drafts, provided input and approved the final product — a process that raised the ire of a top bureaucrat involved.
    The transport minister at the time, Lawrence Cannon, also ignored warnings from the senior bureaucrat about a tiny communications budget of $15,000 to fund the initiative, so the promised rollout of “prominent signage” at key airports has never materialized.
    …..Governments often consult with stakeholders when developing new initiatives. In this case, the minister’s office did not bring consumer groups into the process………”
    http://www.ottawacitizen.com/travel/Airlines+helped+craft+passenger+bill+rights/2236241/story.html
    Thanks for watching our backs Cons. Err, maybe not. Ok then, thanks for being straight up with us on the policy….errr, not so much.
    Lying Cons getting stroked by the bagmen and blowboys. It’s the Liberal party you never voted for.

  21. Of course, James Earl Ray Carter also had his UFO encounter, “lust in his heart” (did he specify the gender or species of the object?), brother Billy…
    Jennifer Rubin, The Killer Bow?
    Jimmy Carter’s presidency was not going well by the spring of 1979, but when on a fishing trip near his home Carter was forced to fend off what later became known as the “killer rabbit,” the fateful rodent rendezvous became a metaphor for his presidency…
    So, is “the bow” Obama’s “killer rabbit” moment[?]…

  22. For the “Is there nothing Obama can’t do” files.
    Andy McCarthy pointed out the following in The Corner today (http://corner.nationalreview.com/):
    “In a meeting with the press in China, President Obama said that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be “convicted” and had “the death penalty applied to him” … and then said he wasn’t “pre-judging” the case. He made the second statement after it was pointed out to him — by NBC’s Chuck Todd — that the first statement would be taken as the President’s interfering in the trial process. Obama said that wasn’t his intention. I’m sure it wasn’t — he’s trying to contain the political damage caused by his decision — but that won’t matter. He has given the defense its first motion that the executive branch, indeed the President himself, is tainting the jury pool. Nice work.”
    The constitutional law professor seems to be satisfied with simply voting ‘present’ in all sorts of situations, including classes on constitutional law.

  23. A second public biography of Senator Leo Housakos is changed after press calls
    November, 17, 2009 – 07:20 pm Ditchburn, Jennifer – (THE CANADIAN PRESS)
    Bookmark
    OTTAWA – A second public biography that tied a Conservative senator to an engineering firm that won a lucrative federal stimulus contract was quickly edited to delete references to the position, following inquiries by The Canadian Press.
    Senator Leo Housakos was on the payroll of Montreal-based BPR when the company won a $4.5 million contract as part of a consortium studying the future of that city’s Champlain Bridge.
    Housakos was described as holding the position of vice-president of business development with BPR on his Senate website and in official documents filed with the Senate Ethics Officer.

  26. That debt could’ve financed 12 Skydomes for each and every province for the next four years.
    Stimulus tab ugly sign for taxpayers
    By Don Martin, Calgary HeraldNovember 18, 2009
    Parents spotting any construction workers resting on shovels at road paving or bridge repair projects should alert their kids: Those paycheques are on their tab, plus a generation’s worth of accumulated interest.
    The daunting challenge of financing the recession’s make-work stimulus, a colossal prop to a construction sector which is still suffering layoffs, will be reflected in an ugly benchmark being revisited this weekend.
    If the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s calculation is correct, that’s when Prime Minister Stephen Harper will join his predecessor Jean Chretien as only the second prime minister in history to enrol Canada in the half-trillion-dollar national debt club.
    The CTF debt clock went from a declining figure which bounced off a fiscal bottom at $467 billion in debt to become a blur of 12-digit numbers rising in hyperdrive this year as the government went drunken-sailor to unleash spending in all directions en route to a projected $56-billion deficit.
    http://www.calgaryherald.com/columnists/Stimulus+ugly+sign+taxpayers/2234807/story.html

  28. O’narcissist’s sOle legacy*:
    “This is his sole legacy: a massive post-traumatic stress disorder.”
    …-
    “Liberal Groups Say Stimulus Didn’t Work
    Conservatives are not the only ones that think the president’s stimulus package was a colossal failure.
    Believe it or not, the NAACP, the AFL-CIO and La Raza are complaining that the stimulus has not worked, telling the president that he must do more to fight unemployment. With unemployment among African-Americans above 20 percent in several states, senior NAACP official Hillary Shelton told The New York Times, “It’s time for us to really stoke this issue up.””
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389090/posts
    …-
    *O’narcissist:
    “The “small people”, the “rank and file”, the “loyal soldiers” of the narcissist – his flock, his nation, his employees – they pay the price. The disillusionment and disenchantment are agonizing. The process of reconstruction, of rising from the ashes, of overcoming the trauma of having been deceived, exploited and manipulated – is drawn-out. It is difficult to trust again, to have faith, to love, to be led, to collaborate. Feelings of shame and guilt engulf the erstwhile followers of the narcissist.
    This is his sole legacy: a massive post-traumatic stress disorder.”
    http://www.globalpolitician.com/25109-barack-obama-elections

  29. Apparently the info on urban camo is from The Ottawa Citizen.
    “By David Pugliese, The Ottawa Citizen OTTAWA — Future Canadian soldiers could be wearing new uniforms designed to provide camouflage on the streets of our largest cities.
    The Defence Department will know by March what designs might work for what is being called a Canadian Urban Environment Pattern.
    Those designs are to be based on the “unique requirements” of the urban settings of Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, according to an outline of the project being co-ordinated by scientists at Defence Research and Development Canada in Suffield, Alta.”

  32. Hmmm….. this is strange. Am I going crazy or the Liberal ad will play itself-out? Anybody has an info on the subject of soldiers on Canadian streets?
    I’m not sure why the libs keep bringing this up.
    the soldiers have only been ordered to the streets in Canada twice. once under Pierre Turdeau with orders to shoot and once in january 1999 under Cretain with orders to shovel.
    liberals sent the troops to the streets.

  33. xiat @12:20
    Urban camouflage? Cheap and simple. Step one: Just take clean, pressed uniforms, and tack them up on freshly-painted railway boxcars, and leave them sitting in an inner-city siding overnight. Step two: turn uniforms over, and leave them another night. Step three: instruct troops to wear their helmets twisted about 30 degrees to one side or the other.
    Done deal.

  35. xiat @12:20
    Urban camouflage? Cheap and simple. Step one: Just take clean, pressed uniforms, and tack them up on freshly-painted railway boxcars, and leave them sitting in an inner-city siding overnight. Step two: turn uniforms over, and leave them another night. Step three: instruct troops to wear their helmets twisted about 30 degrees to one side or the other.
    Done deal.

  37. A Quote from Count Igula, pretty much sums up the foreigness and the entitlement ideas
    “Between my two pasts, the Canadian and the Russian, I felt I had to choose. The exotic always exerts a stronger lure than the familiar and I was always my father’s son. I chose the vanquished past, the past lost behind the revolution. I could count on my mother’s inheritance: it was always there. It was my father’s past that mattered to me, because it was one I had to recover, to make my own.”

  38. Urban camo , Vancouver style.
    get all soldiers Karl Marx wigs and beards.
    get large brown clothes
    teach them to lay in the middle of the sidewalk.

  41. Pedestrian bridge in a society that does not walk is a novel concept. How about a dozen of extra turn lanes instead? They can be built of average quality asphalt.

  42. I notice that Iffy has hired Mario Lague, ex Adscam, as Director of Communications. Must have been recommended by Katsmeat! This should especially help in PQ.

  44. maybe the return of Mario Lague signals the return of our money.
    How many millions do the lieberals still owe us?

  45. Iffy is the new Iggy?
    good enough.
    I love the flexibility and diversity of the english language.

  46. This will have the media,libs,and dippers salivating for weeks. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/11/18/diplomat-afghan-detainees.html —-Unfortunately,what will not be mentioned is that the liberal gov’t put together the deal to send the detainees to the Afghans. They did this in typical knee-jerk reaction to spite the Americans. But that won’t matter,the Conservatives will wear this. Donallo must be smiling. Personally,I think that the Taliban prisoners should be treated as well as they treat their detainees.

  47. “CRTC TOLD BROADCASTERS AT DEATH’S DOOR(sic)”
    Bourque deadline.
    Iffy, do you believe that the PET Cemetery has room for the Bwaaadcastors?

  48. Chinese see through O: a burned out jade.
    …-
    “China govt pleased but ordinary folk cool on Obama (long for Bush)
    State media heralded President Barack Obama’s maiden trip to China as a triumph, but ordinary Chinese were largely shielded by their government from his most critical remarks and activists were disappointed by the measured tone of those they did hear. One blogger even pined for the tough line taken by former President George W. Bush.
    “Like a star rushing from one show to another, Obama has come and gone, without stirring the slightest ripples,” blogger Zhao Dezhu wrote in an online post.
    Zhao, who writes a popular blog and twitters under the name Hecaitou, said the visit made him miss Bush who “couldn’t speak with flowery language and even made grammatical mistakes but spoke as plainly as an American farmer.”
    Obama, by contrast, speaks “with sweet but empty words.””
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2389340/posts

  49. Sarah Palin on Hannity tonite, O’Reilly tomorrow for three straight nights.
    Should be good.

  50. Terror suspect ran immigration service. Who did he help get into the country?
    http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-22884-Canada-Politics-Examiner~y2009m11d18-Terror-suspect-ran-immirgration-service-Who-did-he-help-get-into-the-country
    A Canadian citizen, originally from Pakistan, now sits in an Illinois jail and faces accusations that he was involved in two Islamist plots on opposite sides of the world. The case of Tahawwur Hussain Rana spans five countries, two plots and may also involve him helping get fellow travellers through the American and Canadian immigration systems.

Proudly powered by WordPress & Skyrocket Themes

MENU

Navigation