Back from a quick trip to Cold Lake, Alberta, where they “broadcast” the fireworks over the lake Saturday night for the troops in Afghanistan.
A few items I picked up last week, along with some new ones:
A cartoon you won’t believe.
The role that democracy played in alienating Al Zarqawi from his Sunni allies.
60 years old and wearing it a hell of a lot better than Cher.
A dead heat between the left and right in the Mexico elections.
Superman loses his citizenship.

It’s just a matter of time;

Security sources have disclosed that the belief amongst most intelligence agencies is that a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) attack, using a so-called dirty bomb, is now inevitable.

Today, Palestinian terrorists are claiming they already have.
A roundup of blog reaction and analysis to the SCOTUS decision on Guantanamo. Ed Morrissey thinks we’ll see more terrorists shot on the battlefield.

“…since the notion of having the servicemen who captured these prisoners forced to appear to testify to their “arrest” is not only ridiculous but would require us to retire combat units as a whole whenever their prisoners appear for trial. Congress needs to correct this issue immedately.”

Michelle Malkin has lots too, as expected. More – Andrew Cochran predicts this will turn out to be a “huge political gift to President Bush”.
The American economy, still sputtering along.

The new snapshot of gross domestic product for the January-to-March period exceeded the 5.3 percent growth rate estimated a month ago, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. The upgraded reading – based on more complete information – matched economists’ forecasts.
The stronger GDP figure mostly reflected an improvement in the country’s trade deficit, which was much less of a drag than previously estimated.

Hill Times;

While the United States sleeps, the unelected Chinese government has publicly stated it is increasing its military budget by nearly 15 percent a year, an eye-opening figure. But the report makes it clear that the true figure is vastly higher: “Estimates place Chinese defense expenditure at two to three times officially disclosed figures.”

Share yours in the comments.

My connection here in Missoula is somewhat flakey, so no suggestions from me today – use the comments for your finds.
One more day of showing, and I hit the road for home this afternoon. I’ll catch up when I get back.

The next two weeks are going to be a bit on the slow side here. I leave for Montana first thing in the morning, and while I should be able to get online in the evenings, there’s no guarantee. Hopefully, the guest bloggers I’ve asked to drop by will keep things updated once in a while.
As usual, you’re invited to share your own tips in the comments.
A Democrat considers where his party has gone;

We need two lively parties to make a good game of “Capture the Flag.” In the end, the struggle is always for the non-ideological “center,” (which has always been fairly conservative outside of the MSM, academia, union loyalists, California, and New England/New York), but which has slowly drifted “rightward” – I think mainly in reaction to the alarming “Leftward” drift of the Dems since JFK – and the high visibility of their irrational and often wackily colorful fringe elements and “lens lice,” as Curtis Sliwa terms them.

The tolerant Left targets a 7 year old homophobe.
Home schooling as criminal offense.
Plus, this amusing anecdote, via private email.

During Premier Calverts recent road trip through the Porcupine Plain and Tisdale area, a cousin of a friend of mine heard a comment made by the premier.
Upon exiting the bus he viewed a yellow field and exclaimed “what a nice crop that is” , his handlers had to explain that the field was actually covered in dandylions.
In a province where finishing a canoe race either first or last is considered all the same, should we not agree with Lorne that there really is no difference between a field of dandylions or a fine crop of canola.

Indeed!

Juliet, oh Juliet – wherefor woudest thou turn from marriage for fear of the unknownest? What is life if shorn of risk? On yon balcony and down yon street, I shall proveth mine love to thee! Here – hold my pants.
Learning the lesson of Caledonia – if you lose in the courts, there’s always extortion to fall back on.
The Frontier Centre for Public Policy is hosting a lunch featuring Rev. Harry Lehotsky on June 19th. (Winnipeg)

The Reverend Harry Lehotsky leads an inner-city Winnipeg church called
New Life Ministries, founded in 1983. From its humble beginnings in a west-end home, the church under his leadership grew into a powerful force in its challenged neighbourhood, not only serving its spiritual needs but, through a proactive involvement in community development, becoming its economic and political voice as well. Through his extensive involvement in the church’s social housing program, Harry learned about public sector barriers to development and played a prominent part in his neighbourhood’s calls for improved public safety. Hear how both the public and private sectors can improve their delivery of services in context of high-crime, poverty and despair

click here for details, if you want to attend.
The charade of raising human rights issues with the Chinese government.
Captains Quarters;

the British capture of al-Qaeda’s chief online resource, Irhabi007 […] eight months ago allowed Western nations to make almost 40 arrests around the world, including important links to the 17 Canadians arrested in Toronto last month

Combat Jump Star on the logicstics of winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan;

I actually saw an old woman break down and begin to sob because her son had believed we were invaders there to destroy them, and he had gone away to fight against us with the Taliban. She felt that her son would never return, and for what? For a lie, for propaganda.

Comments are open for your own suggestions.

Newly elected Grand Forks City Councillor Mike McNamara:

“We’ve got a raid going on right now, and I can’t do anything for another 90 minutes. Can I call you then or is it too late?”

David Warren on The Great Divide.

Released transcript from the first 30 minutes of the negotiations today regarding the Douglas Creek Land Claims.
An inconvenient response ;

Professor Bob Carter of the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University, in Australia gives what, for many Canadians, is a surprising assessment: “Gore’s circumstantial arguments are so weak that they are pathetic. It is simply incredible that they, and his film, are commanding public attention.

A Chairborne Ranger smackdown for USA Today Baghdad correspondent Cesar Soriano.
Black Rod updates the story on injured Afghan interpreter Muhammed Niaz.

We told his story. We then sent The Black Rod to Rosie DiManno, of the Toronto Star, and Christie Blatchford, of the Globe and Mail, both of whom had been embedded with Canadian troops in Afghanistan and who we thought might have known Niaz.
DiManno remembered him at once. And she leapt into action. She bombarded military officials in Ottawa with one question: what are you doing to help this man? She got no answer, so she took the fight to her own turf, her newspaper column.

Good for her! (link fixed)
Add your own in the comments.

Supporters of the Falun Gong are being ordered to take down a protest display outside the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver. Jack Layton is certain to show up to express his solidarity for those oppress … oh, nevermind.
Michael McCullough;

The mainstream media in general had no problem seeing Clinton going to church with a Bible prominently in hand because they knew that it was a phony act calculated to gain sympathy. Clinton talked about his faith, but the press gave him a pass because they knew that it was just a political ploy and that his actions never reflected his talk.

A “secret” NAFTA Super Highway? Sounds like a great idea to me.
Fisking Fisk, Canadian style.
Shaidle;

The “poor” don’t like “foreigners”. They don’t like white, university educated young troublemakers, either. They don’t give a shit about how “oppressed” anybody is. The poor care about cheap smokes, lottery tickets, beer, sleeping, tatoos, big dogs and satellite tv. Leftists are talking exclusively to themselves — that’s part of the fun of watching them drone on and on like this.

Add your own in the comments.

In Saskatchewan, our highways are so famous, they have their own websites!.
Jeff has fashion advice for TalkLeft’s Jeralyn Merritt.
Arabian Dissent;

[T]hat’s where were stuck, we either carry on fighting in those hotspots, ridding as much Jihadists as we can along the way, while helping democratic and enlightened reform to take hold that will help diminish the amount of future Jihadis taking shape WHILE taking losses. OR…we can withdraw, strengthen their resolve and deal with a much worse and dedicated Islamist threat 5 or 10 years down the line.
The choice is that clear.

Add your own in the comments.

Not everyone is happy this morning.

Not only is al-Zarqawi dead, but so are 7 of his top advisors. That’s a good thing. In terms of World War II, it would be like us killing Hermann Göring plus 7 top generals. One would think that this would be accepted by everyone as a great victory, but unfortunately that is not so.

What the BBC didn’t say about “one of Islam’s most renowned Imams”;

In one of his [Saudi] sermons, Saudi sheikh Abd Al-Rahman Al-Sudayyis, imam and preacher at the Al-Haraam mosque – the most important mosque in Mecca – beseeched Allah to annihilate the Jews. He also urged the Arabs to give up peace initiatives with them because they are “the scum of the human race, the rats of the world, the violators of pacts and agreements, the murderers of the prophets, and the offspring of apes and pigs.”

He led prayers at the newly opened London Muslim Centre.
Syria, is starting a “media campaign” against honour killings.
World Net Daily seems to be the only outlet reporting (online, at least) that Congress is opening hearings into possible foreign connections to the Oklahoma City bombing.
Sort of a theme going on here, I know. Add your own in the comments. Any topic is fine.

News Junkie Canada – Are you suggesting the “dopey Canadian reporter abroad” schtick wasn’t an act?
When a pair of 8 year olds were setting fire to garbage bins in Regina last year, all police and fire could do was follow the wee tykes around to put them out. As it turns out, in the world of 8 year old arsonists, they were pathetic underachievers.
Training continues for Jamaat ul-Fuqra.
At “Deuce’s Stay Wild”, a review of Neil Young’s Living With War.
Science reinvents the calculator.
Use the comments for your own suggestions.

Solidarity!;

In the visitors’ gallery Saturday morning sat Zaynab Khadr, the sister of Abdullah Khadr, who is fighting extradition to the United States. He is accused of supplying weapons to al-Qaeda.
Ms. Khadr, who once expressed an admiration for suicide bombers on national TV, sat looking at the prisoner’s box, speaking Arabic with Aly Hindy, a controversial fundamentalist preacher.
Having had many of their own run-ins with the RCMP and CSIS, Ms. Khadr and Mr. Hindy were intent on doing what they could for the families of the newly accused.

Via Nealenews, the go-to site for developing stories/commentary on the terror cell arrests.
Do you want the Conservatives to win a majority in the next federal election?
“Shouldn’t his passenger have a helmet?”
“Those four Indian males were, by modern standards, bigots, chauvinists, and racists.”
Finally, a scene of sweetness and light, a historical snapshot from the Land Before Bushitler: A sky full of kites, smiling down on rivers of chocolate.
Use the comments for your own.

I’lll be knee deep in racecar repaint today, so it’s a reader tips morning.
Real Clear Politics on the Canadian threat to US border security. We can stick our heads in the “but what about the tourism!” sand all we wish, but this issue is not going to go away without a lot of work on the part of our governments.
The courts give winking approval to polygamy.

While the former Liberal government maintained that polygamy is criminal in Canada, documents released to Sun Media through access to information show that polygamous marriages have been recognized “for limited purposes” to enforce financial obligations of husbands with multiple wives.

Papa Joe Volpe, Internet Enforcer. Let this be a lesson to you all – don’t register your domain with Canadian Domain Name Services.
Truth or Politics? – Larry Spencer has his say.
Head Explosion Alert! Genetically modified environmentally friendly fuel.
“The New Iowa”. The Chronicle Review examines the future role of blogs in American politics.
Add yours in the comments.

I’m heading out for a couple of days – blogging will resume Sunday at some point, I’d think. (Unless I”m very lucky at the show and finish my dog, and get to come home early.)
You may use this thread for reader tips and related comments until I get back.
To avoid getting caught in the spam filter remember – avoid words like “online”, the use of html, and symbols like ampersands. The filter does “learn” who to trust as time goes on, and there do seem to be fewer legitimate comments getting trapped all the time.
Just an additional note – I’m getting rather tired of people who should know better claiming that “more people voted” in American Idol than in the US presidential elections. This is absurd. While there were more votes cast – viewers could vote as often they wished, so with some casting dozens of votes each week, the number of votes was exponentially higher than the number of people actually voting. (Though admittedly, the American Idol example does invite comparison to voting patterns in some urban “Democratic strongholds”).
Have a good weekend, and be polite to each other, please.

As you may have noticed, a busy day means I don’t have a lot of time for blogging, so here’s an invitation to share your tips with the rest of the crew. A few that were sent in recent days –

For 30 years, since the Whitlam government, that dream was that Aborigines were different to anyone else.
They had a “mystical” bond to the land that should not be broken. They should be kept in the remote bush, no matter the cost. White society was too racist and corrupt for them, anyway. The tribal ways were best. The foolish NT Government even started teaching the young in tribal languages rather than English.
What should have been clear was that you’d drive anyone feral if you kept them in a remote place with no work, no future, no excitement, no responsibility, no hope of escape and no need to even get out of bed, let alone go to school.
Add free welfare, cheap beer, big-city porn, drugs and plenty of poor-me excuses, and you would get the devastation we see right now.

Looking back at the media’s obsession with climate coolingwarmingdryingwetting change. (I’ll make a bold prediction – now that nearly everything has been used up, the next environmental warning bell to ring will be over “climate stagnation”.)
Andrew Coyne has thoughts on Kyoto. I suggest you skip those, and scroll down to read what Mark Collins has to say at the 3:36PM mark in the comments.
Victor Davis Hanson on the quagmire that is California.
You’re on your own for a while. I have a bunch of overdue portraits challenging me to get started on them. One is of a member of the US military (pictured in a Blackhawk) who was three times the soldier this guy claimed to be.

I spent 12 of the past 24 hours on the highway, and since arriving home have been catching up on yardwork and gardening. I’m bushed, so some quick reader tips and a semi-open thread for your entertainment purposes (by semi-open, I mean try to stick to the topics provided, and keep idle chatter down). Though, as it’s a long weekend, it’s probably better if you just turn off the computer and get outside. I am!
Another tidbit pointing up the chain of command out of the Guite trial.

“”Yesterday, Mr. Guité produced a statement that Mr. Parent had given to Quebec provincial police officers investigating the sponsorship scandal.
The officers had asked Mr. Parent who had authorized sponsorships. He replied by mentioning the Prime Minister’s Office and the Public Works minister at the time, Alfonso Gagliano.
“In the time of sponsorships, it was Mr. Guité and the political machine,” Mr. Parent said in his statement to police.”

Via Newsbeat1 – a very good site to bookmark to keep track of testimony.
Mob rule continues at Caledonia, with the helpful assistance of the provincial government.
Credit where it is due: Scott Brison distances himself from his unprincipled cohorts in the Liberal party,,,, and where it isn’t – most of them seem to be absent from parliament these days.
DNC Chairman Howard Dean – “I feel your Jesus!”.
Add your own in the comments.

Matthew Sheffield echoes something I’ve said – “attempting to please those who are not your friends will not convert them into friends”.

“…making nice with journalists who despise you, your party, and your policies, doesn’t do much good. “

Mullah Dadullah is not a character in Team America, World Police, after all.
Stephen Taylor on the intentional use of politically loaded – and inaccurate terminology by a Canadian media attempting to sway the debate on Afghanistan.
Norm Geras on Syrian crackdowns – including the arrests of writer Michel Kilo and Anwar al-Bunni, the country’s most prominent human rights lawyer.
Richard Gwyn on the choice before us.
Remembering a woman who made it in a “man’s world” – and then some.
Add your own in the comments. I’ll be out until tomorrow sometime, so avoid the use of html,ampersands and other symbols, and include no more than two url’s in any comment, if you want to reduce the odds of being caught in the spam filter.

Flap Jack Layton.
How reacting to the messaging of the radical left-wing animal rights movement is slowly destroying gene pools through introduction of labels in the dog breeding industry. (Speaking of which – I wonder how many dog owners who were so outraged over Dalton McGuinty’s draconian pit bull legislation, marched to the voting booth with a determination to stop the “scary” Conservatives?)
“Jane. Me need ladder. And aspirin.”
Tommy Douglas – Demigod.
Savetheinternet.co,m – protecting net neutrality
Tony Snow vs Helen Thomas. (More on Snow’s first performance here). The reviews are good so far.
Use the comments for your own finds.

Further to the discussion on our deteriorating Saskatchewan highways, I had the opportunity – or shall I say, the discomfort – of travelling a few roads I haven’t been down lately. Highways that one could travel on at normal speeds during the much derided Devine years are now nothing short of treacherous. That is not hyperbole. There are stretches along Hwy 15 east of Kenaston that should really be closed to through traffic until they’ve been properly repaired – they are that dangerous.
The contrast after crossing into neighboring North Dakota makes the situation all the more infuriating. (I’ll add that a visiting Fargo can be hazardous to delusions about Saskatoon’s “economic growth”, but that’s a topic for another day).
A few of you have sent more photographs and commentary – I’ll be getting into that later. In the meanwhile, there’s a lot of work to catch up on around here, so you’re still on your own for a few hours with reader tips. Some sent in while I was gone ;
“If I get hurt, blame Father Leman.”
Are Canadian bureaucrats poisoning relations with counterparts in the US? (Scroll down)
Disturbing images for those who distrust the Christian right.
Another volcano cam! This one is in Alaska.
Drop your own in the comments.

Early morning, La Crosse Wisconsin – I’m here giving a seminar, and so I’ve got a long three days ahead of me as we tend to go late into the evening. Little time available to even check email and as soon as I’m finished up Sunday,we’ll hit the road for home, so blogging activity will remain slow here until Tuesday. You may use this thread for readers tips and whatnot. Hopefully, the weather where you are is better than it is here!
(Sorry some of your comments were held up for so long – I’ll try to get in at least once a day to release those caught in the filter. To prevent it happening, scroll down – there are a few posts below with advice on that score.)
Saturday pm; People will think I woke up drunk… I think I broke a record for typos with that one. Most are corrected now – I hope.

Hitting the road later this morning, so it’s a reader tips day. Posting will be slow here until Tuesday, and my time online will be limited, so be careful with your comments. A reminder – he use of an ‘a href’ tag will almost certainly toss your comment into the filter, as will using symbols like &, multiple dashes, multiple url’s, etc.
If in doubt, look over your comment before you post, and ask yourself if it reminds you of spam! Keep it simple and short, and it will probably get through.
A few tips before I head out –
Yes, Virginia – there is Vast Right Wing Conspiracy. I read it in Hansard!
The Brookings Institute reports improvement continues in Iraq on a number of fronts. Read it, because you sure as hell won’t see information like this pass Peter Mansbridge’s lips.
Amir Taheri in the WSJ.

Something interesting is happening with regard to the crisis over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Slowly the blame is shifting from the mullahs to the Bush administration as the debate is redirected to tackle the hypothetical question of U.S. military action rather than the Islamic Republic’s real misdeeds. “No War on Iran” placards are already appearing where “No Nukes for Iran” would make more sense.

Because Bush derangement syndrome knows no bounds.
Charles Krauthammer;

Last week, Bernard Lewis, America’s dean of Islamic studies who just turned 90 and remembers the 20th century well, confessed that for the first time he feels it is 1938 again.

See you later, and behave!