Via email from reader Bruce;
This afternoon radio out here (Vancouver) announced that the Harper
governemnt has suspended the “trips to Ottawa” orientation program pending a review. I have not been able to locate a press release, but it was apparently on the news wire.
As I was saying – SDA gets results!
This is ridiculous.
Every new federal civil servant from coast to coast is being sent to Ottawa on a two-day, all-expenses paid trip to give them a “big picture” understanding of how government works.
The trip is mandatory for all new employees as well as anyone contracted to the federal government for more than six months — everyone from mailroom clerks and agricultural ministry workers to new Mounties.
The first trips are scheduled to start in three weeks, organized under a government branch called the Canada School of Public Service.
What isn’t mentioned in the article is that the ridiculousness is just “business as usual” for the civil service. Bureaucracies across all levels of government seem addicted to the practice of transporting government employees long distances at taxpayer expense to gather together before centralized sheets of paper.
update – In the comments, Bruce clarifies;
This lunacy was brought in by the Martin government, finalized by Treasury Board prior to November 28, 2005. Follow the link.
update 2 – Looks like there’s a pretty good chance the program will be axed under the Conservatives. Liberal MP Hedy Fry seems unhappy about that. A very good observation by NDP MP Peter Julian;
Julian said government would be better off spending money to send senior decision makers in the civil service out to the regions to see how their policies affect the public, “rather than have new members of the public service going to Ottawa where they are essentially inculcated into the kind of atmosphere we have in Ottawa,”
Well said.
To a more deserving group of people.
“THE VIEW helped make Star a Star…” – Barbara Walters
And all this time I thought she was already famous for proving that Really Stupid People[tm] can pass the New York Bar.
“It is accepted that works may not be displayed in the way that the artist might have intended.”
“How much are we paying these clowns?” (PDF)
It’s not enough, I tell you!
From a National Post article (on the long list of Liberal leadership candidates busy borrowing cash).
NEW LIBERAL CRITIC: Belinda Stronach
TORY TARGET: No minister with same role
MINISTRY: Competitiveness and the New Economy
h/t to commentor “dude”, who observes that “here’s some humour to found in the Minister of Complex Files taking up the role of critic to… nobody.”
Yes, there is.
Why Barbaro? Why not this stupid nag?
Hey, Joey. Do you like movies about gladiators?
Hey, Joey. Have you ever seen a grown man naked?
Hey, Joey. Have you ever seen the inside of a Turkish prison?
Michael Totten concludes his series.
One of the newly constructed homes in Dohok, Iraq
Part 5
It�s hard to write about Dohok because the place is so normal. Getting there is an adventure, but there is little adventure to be found after arrival. The most remarkable thing about the city is how unremarkable it is.
The first time I went there on a day trip from Erbil it seemed like such an innocent place. After seeing the rough hell of Turkish Kurdistan, though, and realizing that the Kurds in Iraq had it even worse under Saddam, it did not seem so innocent to me anymore. Iraqi Kurds struck me as deeply, profoundly, mature. It took so much work, blood, and sacrifice to build what they have. And they built it from nothing.
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and now, Part Four;
Someone is picking us up,” Sean said, even though we didn’t know if that really was true. It could have been true.
Not a single person spoke any English. But they seemed intrigued and excited when they found out we were Americans.
One man led us over to a Peshmerga soldier standing guard next to a gate.
“Hello?” the Peshmerga said. “You speak English?”
“Yes,” I said. “Hello.”
“Where are you from?” he said a bit coldly.
“We’re Americans,” I said.
His eyes turned to saucers. “Americans! Welcome!” he said. “How can I help you?”
Enjoy!
Sean and I dragged our sorry, exhausted, and malnourished selves to the car at 6:30 in the morning just a few hours northwest of the Turkish-Iraqi border. For the first time we had a look at our surroundings in daylight.
Turkish Kurdistan is a disaster. It is not where you want to spend your next holiday.
One village after another has been blown completely to rubble.
Back to Iraq – Part One;
Sean and I tried to go to sleep early so we could wake up and go at first light. I stared at the ceiling and remembered my flight over Eastern Turkey. We are so screwed, I thought. There’s no way we can drive across that landscape to Iraq and back in three days from where we are now. And I was right. and Part Two
Watch while London politicians twist themselves into pretzels trying to justify a taxpayer-funded trip to see Rudy Guiliani.
First, they need to spend $10,000 to help defray the cost of the London conference.
[…]
Oh yeah…and what will people think if city councillors don’t go? How will they be seen? And, what if there is a future pandemic? Think about it!
If you’re a taxpayer in the London, ON area, you’ll have to move fast – the vote is today. Info here;
UPDATE from David Maclean: “Well, there is some good news. Due to “public pressure” council decided not to accept the tickets for fear of it being perceived as graft. They are, however, still contributing 10,000 for the conference. Well done, folks.”
(Click photo for story)
h/t Shaidle
Yes, Sean – I am glad I run linux;
Nearly half of the systems I�ve dealt with over the past month have been badly compromised by advanced trojans and rootkits that are virtually impossible to remove. These programs hook themselves deep into Windows XP and commandeer cricitical parts of the operating system so that they can escape detection and removal by trojan and rootkit repair utilities. While I can remove the malicious software in many cases, it would take me six or seven hours to do a good job and another two or three hours of monitoring the system to be absolutely sure the problem is fixed. On the other hand, it only takes me a few hours to backup user data, rebuild the OS, and then restore data back to the system. Since I charge by the hour, a rebuild is usually cheaper than a repair.
I know that some people are unhappy about having their systems rebuilt from scratch, but the bottom line is that it�s not only the most cost effective repair, but that �nuking the system from orbit� is the only way to 100% guarantee that the problem is fixed for good. It�s not just me saying it either, now Microsoft is admitting it too.
Joan Tintor on yesterday’s blond bombshell;
She had a good chance to win, Stronach claimed, but her reason for not running is the party�s leadership selection process, which she says renders her incapable of speaking her mind on party renewal. She maintains that she would have been �trapped� in a system in which the grassroots are �ahead� of the party.
This is risible nonsense. In the two months that have passed since Paul Martin announced he would not be leading the Liberals into another election, this is the first inkling we have ever heard from Belinda that she had a problem with the Liberal party�s leadership process.
[…]
As CBC reporter Julie Van Dusen noted on Newsworld today, Stronach applauded the Liberal leadership rules when they were released last month. As the National Post reported on March 20:�I was particularly pleased to see the national party executive agree on rules that will ensure the leadership race is a more open, accessible and accountable process from start to finish, that will guarantee a level playing field for everyone who decides to run,� Ms. Stronach said in a statement.
Stronach’s talking points today, less than three weeks later, are a transparent rationalization for the fact that her weak support among traditional Liberals means she could only win the leadership if she were free to essentially take over the party with new members. Yet Scott Brison, Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae do not seem deterred, though they are essentially starting from the same place.
In the Simpsons episode that features the musical version of �A Streetcar Named Desire,� the closing song includes the line �a stranger�s just a friend you haven�t met.� I guess to Stronach, a �grassroots Liberal� is just somebody whose membership she hasn�t bought yet.
Stephen Taylor weighs in as well.
Crappy vocals are no barrier to pretentiousness.
How foolish! Tom Cruise should know, given his years in Hollywood, that banning something just makes it that much more popular. And I’m proof.
I don’t think I’ve EVER made it through an entire episode of South Park until today. I particularly enjoyed Nicole’s cameo appearance.
h/t Daimnation
crossposted
The first time I did it in 2004, it was one of my better early posts. Last year, I was considering chewing off my paw before the night was over, so this year, I’m skipping the show and doing some artwork. with the Red Hot Chili Peppers turned to a decibel level that’s generating dirty looks from the dogs.
But Jim Treacher is on the case;
One of my favorite fun facts about Clooney is that he didn’t shave his head for that movie because he was scared it wouldn’t grow back. Unfortunately, there’s no category for Best Guy Who Doesn’t Understand Biology, so they had to give him Best Supporting Actor.
Mockery link roundup at Instapundit.
It sounds as though it was a Jon bomb. It seems that for all the left loves Stewart when he mocks Republican presidents, satire directed at the Hollywood left is just so unfunny.
The MSNBC item by Andy Dehnart that I’ve linked to, though, is pretty humorous by itself as Andy Dehnart explains;
Those who believe “The Daily Show” is actually “fake news” don’t understand either satire or the exceptionally smart, informative humor that the show invokes on a daily basis. Stewart and “The Daily Show’s” team emphasize and demonstrate the importance and gravity of the day’s news by making fun of it.
That’s what he’s doing? And all this time I thought he was just another member of the Democratic Party’s entertainment wing.
