Attention Shoppers
Will Ontario Voters Be Smarter Than Albertans?
The voters of the PC Party of Alberta have just made a terrible mistake in electing Alison Leftie Redford as their new leader. Admittedly this was a tiny subset of the province’s voters using an insane voting system, but still, her presence as the head of a once great political party is nothing short of a bad joke. On the bright side, voters now have a clear distinction between the leftist policies of the PCs and the centre-right policies of the Wildrose Alliance. I have faith that they’ll make the right decision come election time.
A more pressing issue faces the voters of Ontario. Will they give Tim Hudak a chance or stick with Dalton McGuinty? If you are in Ontario, please explain what issues you’ll be thinking about this Thursday.
Bad Terrain for the Volt
What people really want to drive:
GM to boost Equinox, Terrain production at Cami plant
…
Cami Automotive Inc., already running almost flat out at three shifts a day and a Saturday overtime shift, will speed up its assembly line to squeeze out 50 more hot-selling Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain models a day, on top of the approximately 1,100 assembled now, industry sources familiar with GM’s plans said.
…it starts with the redesigned version of the Equinox, a mid-sized crossover utility vehicle. It’s now the fourth-best selling vehicle in the GM lineup. As of the end of August, its sales were up 48 per cent, second only to the Terrain’s 61-per-cent surge among GM vehicles.
“I can’t hardly keep them in stock,” Jonathan Wiest, sales manager at Davis-Moore Chevrolet in Wichita, Kan., said of the Equinox. It is one of the top three performers at his dealership, alongside the larger Traverse crossover and the Silverado pickup…
The plant is in Ingersoll, Ontario; I’d like to hear Premier Dalton “‘Tricity” McGuinty’s comments.
Predate: Consumer Reports was not impressed by the Chevy Volt–this in particular will be of interest to many Canadians and northerly Americans:
…Our engineers complained that the air from the heater was tepid, leaving them uncomfortably cold. The electric seat heaters help, but not enough. When the temperature dips below 26 degrees [F], the engine will turn on even during the electric portion of a trip to produce more heat…
Not So Good at Hand-Loading
Reasons for Dragon train-crashing:
China Bullet Trains Trip on Technology
SHANGHAI—China celebrated its bullet trains as the home-grown pride of a nation: a rail system faster and more advanced than any other, showcasing superior Chinese technology.
However, China’s high-speed rail network was in fact built with imported components—including signaling-system parts designed to prevent train collisions—that local engineers couldn’t fully understand, according to a review of corporate documents and interviews with more than a dozen rail executives inside and outside China…
Getty Images
At 8:37 p.m., Train No. D301 rammed into the back of No. D3115, which was nearly stationary on the tracks, in Wenzhou. The accident killed 40 people and injured at least 190. The impact sent four carriages plunging 65 feet off the elevated rail line
Why China won’t conquer the world
Its young are incapable, its old are exhausted, and box-ticking bureaucrats make life hell. China, a superpower? First it needs to grow up, says acclaimed author Xué Xinran
“Perception Is Reality”
Now is the time at SDA when we review: Anyone who believes that dangerously naive political “maxim” is either a fool or a liar. Reality is reality. Everything else is just seven second delay.
You can read the full Noonan piece here.
Not Waiting For The Asteroid
CTV’s “markets reporter” Bridget Brown – your moral and investment superior!
“Some investors aren’t confident with what gold is backed by – or if its backed by anything at all, as compared to something like the US dollar.
Investors are comfortable that the US dollar is backed by the American government, so that no matter what is happening to the US economy, something like the US dollar is backed by the Federal Reserve, that’s going to be around a year from now. That’s a much more comfortable investment for them.
Watch, and wonder. (h/t Jason)
This Is Awkward
Langmann, C. “Canadian Firearms Legislation and Effects on Homicide 1974 to
2008.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, In Press, Accepted Sept 30, 2011.
ABSTRACT
Canada has implemented legislation covering all firearms since 1977 and
presents a model to examine incremental firearms control. The effect of
legislation on homicide by firearm and the subcategory, spousal homicide is
controversial and has not been well studied to date. Legislative effects on
homicide and spousal homicide were analyzed using data obtained from
Statistics Canada from 1974 to 2008. Three statistical methods were applied
to search for any associated effects of firearms legislation. Interrupted
time series regression, ARIMA, and Joinpoint analysis were performed. No
significant beneficial associations between firearms legislation and
homicide or spousal homicide rates were found after the passage of three
Acts by the Canadian Parliament: Bill C-51 (1977), C-17 (1991), and C-68
(1995). Nor were effects found after the implementation of licensing in
2001, and the registration of rifles and shotguns in 2003. After the passage
of C-68, a decrease in the rate of the decline of homicide by firearm was
found by interrupted regression. Joinpoint analysis also found an increasing
trend in homicide by firearm rate post the enactment of the licensing
portion of C-68. Other factors found to be associated with homicide rates
were median age, unemployment, immigration rates, percent of population in
low income bracket, Gini index of income equality, population per police
officer, and incarceration rate. This study failed to demonstrate a
beneficial association between legislation and firearm homicide rates between 1974 and 2008.
Emphasis mine.
Reader Tips
In tonight’s Tippity amusement, from the 1964 German film Freddy und das Lied der Prärie (“Freddy and the Song of the Prairie”), Austrian-born actor Freddy Quinn sings the heroically romantic ballad Gib Mir Dein Wort (“Give Me Your Word”).
Der comments are open for your Reader Tips
Welcome to Alberta’s New Progressive Conservative Party
In somewhat of a surprise victory, Alison Redford has won the leadership of the Alberta PC Party and will now be the Premier of the province.
Alberta voters now have a clear choice to make in the next provincial election:
- Spendaholic, unaccountable same old, same old “progressive” policies under Redford
- Responsible conservative policies under Danielle Smith
Let’s hope they make the right choice!
Enough with the Race Card!
I was explaining to a Mexican visitor the other day that the Left’s tried & true technique to shut down all debate on anything in Canada is to simply say, “We don’t want any American-style ________ {fill in the blank however you wish}.” This immediately stifles all real public discussion on the subject.
In America, a similar despicable technique has been deployed, in which you only need declare your opponent a “racist” and you’ve been able to destroy them and their arguments. This has worked very effectively for decades. Until now. Fair-minded Americans have grown absolutely fed up with the race card being played over & over & over again by Obama’s foot soldiers, simply because someone “dares” disagree with his policies, most of which have been very destructive to America.
The latest race baiter is actor Morgan Freeman. Rex Murphy isn’t having any of it. Neither are Dennis Miller or Herman Cain:
Reality vs. The Fantasies of Obama’s Sycophants
In a stinging new column, Mark Steyn accurately describes the failed presidency that is Barack Obama’s. Denial is more than just a river in Egypt, especially if you’re a member of the Mainstream Media or a consumer of their spin & lies.
Let’s Just Get it Over With …
… and rename the IPCC the WWF:
The scientists whose names appear below have not only been examining one of the world’s most important questions for the IPCC. They have a documented, public relationship with professional lobbyists who have a strong interest in influencing this matter. (For readers who are just tuning in, the WWF believes it is “nearly impossible to overstate” the threat posed by climate change – see here, backup link here.)
The people on the list below either played some role in the 2007 Climate Bible or are helping to write the next IPCC report which is expected to be completed in 2013. In many cases, they’re doing dual duty.
Joseph Halpern, Freedom Fighter – R.I.P.
Joseph Halpern died in Ottawa this past summer. He was 88. He might have looked like every other old man each of us sees regularly but his history was certainly a whole lot different than most. This description of his life is well worth a read. Quite a contrast from the lives that we all lead today!
The old adage, “don’t judge a man unless you’ve walked a mile in his shoes”, certainly applies here.
Woodshed Moments in American Politics
The Last Refuge
Shortly after Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain suggested that African-Americans had been brainwashed into voting for Barack Obama (who received 95 to 96 percent of the black vote in the presidential election), Obama pollster and Democrat strategist Cornell Belcher, who was recently hired as one of CNN’s on-air political contributors, appeared on the network to denounce his fellow African-American as being the sort of racist and bigoted person who makes racist and bigoted statements:
“What Herman Cain said was a racist, bigoted statement and it should treated like a racist and bigoted person who makes those racist and bigoted statements.”
When fellow panelist Ari Fleischer took issue with the tenor and merit of the repeatedly reiterated accusation, and asked Belcher if he was “done” yet, Belcher replied:
“That’s a bigoted statement. That’s a bigoted statement, Ari.”
The sneer loses its glorious lustre
Say it ain’t so, Joe:
“Climate alarmists always try to portray skeptics as ignorant, close-minded flat-earthers who lack sufficient education to understand even the basics of the science, and if it wasn’t for them, the world could start taking the necessary steps to rescue itself. Unfortunately for the warmists, the opposite is true. The warmists are the ones who are less educated scientifically. This is what a recent Yale University study shows. Professor Dan M. Kahan and his team surveyed 1540 US adults and determined that people with more education in natural sciences and mathematics tend to be more skeptical of AGW climate science.”
Pretty much consistent with my own personal experience.
h/t
Reader Tips
“All we are saaaying…”
Snork.
The comments are open for your Reader Tips.
Lack of Free Speech in Alberta
I often tell my American friends that they’re entitled to have 10 times the number of nitwits than Canada does because they have 10 times the population. But if you’d like positive proof that idiocracy is alive & well in Canuckistan, look no further than “Professor” Darren E. Lund of the University of Calgary. This fellow recently wrote a vindictive piece in the Calgary Herald, aimed squarely at anyone who supports free speech … and thus disagrees with him.
Throughout his screed, Lund goes on & on condemning others for hate speech while unable to fathom that he’s pumping out a whole lot of his own. And he has the audacity to utter this not so clever totalitarian paragraph:
What Carpay and other fear-mongers fail to notice is that most Albertans, and most Canadians for that matter, are deeply repulsed by hate speech. In this great land, we enjoy our freedoms with an understanding that there must be reasonable limits on those who seek to take away others’ humanity or safety.
To the casual reader this may sound just wonderful, like apple pie and butterflies, but to anyone who has followed the free speech debate in Canada it is downright scary. Who is it that decides what is “hate speech” and what are “reasonable limits”? But of course, the Far Left zealots at the disgraced “human rights” commissions – folks who don’t believe that facts matter and are instead just driven by their unalterable ideology, namely: Anyone who disagrees with us must be uttering hate speech and thus must be silenced.
Ezra Levant is not unfamiliar with Lund, having talked at length about him in his book, Shakedown. Others have exposed Lund for being an anti-Christian bigot.
One particular line of Lund’s had me gobsmacked because of the deep irony:
Building a strong democracy must not include the freedom to poison the public discourse and actually threaten the safety of vulnerable people.
Emphasis mine. This makes one wonder if Darren Lund has covered up all of the mirrors in his home? He clearly hasn’t been observing his own words or actions in a very long time.
Earlier this year, Lund’s crusade against free speech was discussed on Michael Coren’s show:
News blackout
Gun ownership lowers crime?
“…Armageddon never happened. Newly released data for Chicago shows that, as in Washington, murder and gun crime rates didn’t rise after the bans were eliminated — they plummeted. They have fallen much more than the national crime rate.”