Yes.

I Miss W. 34 Comments

This.

“This was the clarion call of presidential leadership. People the world over are looking to our president for a sign that we are committed to the fight. What must they think today?”

I’m not by any stretch a religious person. I was raised Christian, “sang” in the choir, was forced to go on Sunday but would have preferred to sleep, etc. I’m sure many relate.
I have been losing my enthusiasim for our southern neighbours for quite some time now. Canada more than fullfilled our commitments for the Afghanistan conflict. We were militarily involved in Iraq but not “politically” involved. This is correct, we’re not the US. We do not have the military to compare to the US.
But, now we’re in Iraq. We’re part of the coalition against ISIL. We need a commitment to carry on. That would be leadership.
That is what has been lacking. Jordan looks like they may go all in, but that may wane. Saudi is a more than likely a “bit” concerned about their southern border and then there is the Sunni/Shai kerfluffle to mix it all up.
Someone needs to be the leader.
Someone needs to work on cleaning up the mess that the US left when “smart diplomacy” wouldn’t get a standing force agreement.
Is that Canada? Could we do it if the US won’t?

Random Jews

Uncategorized 26 Comments

In an interview yesterday with Vox.com, Barack Obama gave the following statement about the murder of four Jews in a Kosher deli in Paris by a Muslim gunman:

“It is entirely legitimate for the American people to be deeply concerned when you’ve got a bunch of violent, vicious zealots who behead people or randomly shoot a bunch of folks in a deli in Paris.”

A few hours later a State Department Spokeswoman attempted to clarify the “randomly” part on behalf of the administration:

“Well, as you know, I believe if I remember this (sic) victims specifically there were not all victims of one background or one nationality…

In fact, all four of the people who were murdered in the kosher deli were Jews. The Muslim gunman (singular) told a French TV station that he was targeting Jews.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest:

“I believe the point that the president was trying to make is that these individuals were not specifically targeted. These were individuals who happened to randomly be in this deli and were shot while they were there. And that is the point that the president was making.”

Reporter Jon Karl asked, “They weren’t killed because they were in a Jewish deli? A kosher deli?”
Earnest:

“These individuals weren’t targeted by name, this is the point.”

Karl: “Not by name, but (by) religion, were they not?”
Earnest:

“There were people other than just Jews who were in that deli.”

Umm, over the top?

Insufferable Twits 15 Comments

In case you haven’t heard, Stewart is closing shop. Apparently it’s shocking to some people old enough to know better.


As I tweeted; _IF_ in 40 years ComedyCentral is replaying Stewart, I _might_ put credence to the claim.
I doubt I’ll have to.

He taught children.

Insufferable Twits 16 Comments

This segment of John Gormley Live this morning, (MP3 Podcast) is too much. A dream guest for Gormley.
Retired teacher, Carl Chirland (sp?), someone within the hierarchy of Peacequest-Regina, thought to opine on the air about Saskatchewan’s Primary Reserve HS program. Good on Gormley for his non-confrontational interview. To say this “lit up the lines” is a slight misnomer.
It really needs to be heard to be believed, but I’ll tell you, it’s no accident that Peacequest’s logo is a flag of surrender.

The Manitoba Hydro Horror Show

Great Moments In Socialism 18 Comments

Here’s how the crisis shapes up:
* Manitoba Hydro won’t be able to raise enough money to make its interest payments in eight of the next 13 years.
* Manitoba Hydro won’t earn enough money to cover the cost of replacing aging infrastructure in nine of the next ten years, never mind paying the billions required for new dams and transmission lines.
* If the Province has to backstop Hydro, the utility will lose its credit rating and borrowing costs will go way up.
* If Hydro loses its credit rating, it will take the Province over the cliff with it. In short, Manitoba will lose its credit rating, too, and taxpayers will pay the price.
* Manitoba Hydro can’t make up the difference by exporting more power. In fact, Hydro now predicts fixed export prices will be 7 percent lower on average over the next 20 years. Why? Fracking, which Hydro dismissed five years ago as a fad.

The rest at The Black Rod.

Renegade Regulator

CSA 21 Comments

Here’s what’s supposed to happen. A manufacturer makes a lovely widget. This widget, however lovely, requires [Canadian Standards Ass’n] certification to be legally sold or installed. The manufacturer must pay money to CSA, at whatever rate the CSA wishes, for CSA to not only test the widget, but also to inspect the facility in which the widget was fabricated. This latter part is called a field inspection.
So, two things to note; First, these manufacturers are a captive market for CSA, they are obligated to have CSA certification or they’re out of business, and; Second, the CSA makes the standards governing the widget and the inspection, so the CSA decides the service levels that they’re obligated to provide as well as the prices they’ll charge, while manufacturers have no choice in either matter.
Here’s what happens in practice….

The Sound Of Settled Science

Unsettled Science 8 Comments

Accountable Science;

The new peer-reviewed paper, authored by a team of prominent researchers led by Dr. Corrine Keet of John’s Hopkins Children’s Center, studied over 23,000 U.S. children and found no statistically significant difference in asthma rates between those who live in inner-city neighborhoods (and are thus subject to higher pollution levels) and those who do not (once controlling for other factors). Instead, researchers concluded that poverty was a greater predictor for higher asthma rates than outdoor air pollution.
The study still points to air pollution as a cause for asthma, only it’s indoor air pollution–think second hand smoke, rodents, mold, etc.–that may be the main culprit.
It’s a radical finding. The study upends more than half a century of research that assumed outdoor air pollution in cities was to blame for higher asthma rates–a hypothesis repeatedly used by EPA regulators to justify the agency’s regulations.
The study couldn’t come at a worse time for the agency. EPA is preparing to tighten national standards for ground-level ozone (the main ingredient in smog) by as much as 20 percent. To justify the move, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy argued she was “following science” to “protect those most at-risk–our children, our elderly, and people already suffering from lung diseases like asthma.”

They’re Asking For It

Insufferable Twits You Might Be A Liberal 19 Comments

CBC disappointed By ‘Distressingly Low’ Campus Rape Numbers;

Has the CBC hired that disgraced Rolling Stone rape beat reporter or something?
Ha! Show’s what you know. At a cost to taxpayers of over $1 billion a year, the CBC is perfectly capable of screwing up their own narrative all by themselves, thanks.

And this is related: “Two of the five William Paterson University students who were accused of an on-campus gang rape last fall, but were cleared of the charges when a grand jury refused to indict them, have filed notices indicating their intent to sue the school…”

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