Conservative.ca “riddled with childish shots”
The Politic has good advice and it’s long overdue;
…you’re not in the opposition anymore, time to drop the childish taunting (and poor design) and act like the government.
Here’s some more.
There exists a persistent misconception inside political/media circles that the political interweb is the domain of “tech savvy twenty-somethings”. The Conservative’s website has, in all likelihood, been influenced by this ridiculous assumption and that means it’s time to fire some of the high-priced help. If your web people haven’t even a remedial understanding of their audience demographic, they have no business being involved in your communications strategy.
Here is your demographic. Start talking to them instead of non-existent college kids.
But hey – but what do I know about web based communication? I’m just a commercial artist, living in backwoods Saskatchewan.
Victory in Iraq
… when President Bush announced his new strategy for Iraq, very few people predicted that General Petraeus and our military would prevent what appeared to be a certain civil war, or guessed that our Marines and GIs in Anbar would find tribal sheiks who would displace Al Qaeda from their fiefdom in western Iraq. Now provincial elections for this year and federal ones for 2009 are on schedule. Today the Iraqi military, which two years ago was corrupt and infiltrated with terrorists, wins battles in Basra against Shiite criminal gangs affiliated with Moqtada al Sadr. There is a joke going around Basra that the Iraqi military is willing to offer training to the British forces who abandoned that fight in 2006.
The Iraqi government has met all but two of the political benchmarks Democrats trumpeted as proof of defeat six months ago. The casualty statistics for Iraq are now in the range of the first months of the war. Michael Yon, one of the best war reporters of his generation, on Tuesday put it thus: “A fair-minded person could say with reasonable certainty that the war has ended. A new and better nation is growing legs. What’s left is messy politics that likely will be punctuated by low-level violence and the occasional spectacular attack. Yet, the will of the Iraqi people has changed, and the Iraqi military has dramatically improved, so those spectacular attacks are diminishing along with the regular violence. Now it’s time to rebuild the country, and create a pluralistic, stable and peaceful Iraq. That will be long, hard work. But by my estimation, the Iraq War is over. We won. Which means the Iraqi people won.”
Related – “Leading any way the wind blows”
Y2Kyoto: “Would that turn them into bipolar bears?”
Seven Year American Recession Watch Interrupted
Via Don Surber;
A mood of fear and pessimism is starting to descend on Europe. It now seems the region could head into recession even before the United States.
The Sound Of Settled Science
The American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, has reversed its stance on climate change and is now proclaiming that many of its members disbelieve in human-induced global warming. The APS is also sponsoring public debate on the validity of global warming science. The leadership of the society had previously called the evidence for global warming “incontrovertible.”
In a posting to the APS forum, editor Jeffrey Marque explains,”There is a considerable presence within the scientific community of people who do not agree with the IPCC conclusion that anthropogenic CO2 emissions are very probably likely to be primarily responsible for global warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution.”
The APS is opening its debate with the publication of a paper by Lord Monckton of Brenchley, which concludes that climate sensitivity — the rate of temperature change a given amount of greenhouse gas will cause — has been grossly overstated by IPCC modeling. A low sensitivity implies additional atmospheric CO2 will have little effect on global climate.
(h/t to about a dozen of you)
*Note: Using the same inclusiveness as the IPCC bureaucrats when citing the number of authors they represent who allegedly support their AGW “consensus”.
Important Update – Christopher Monckton is demanding answers and an apology of the American Physical Society.
Down The Memory Hole
is there nothing that Obama can’t do?
The stunning comments from Democrat Sen. Barack Obama that the United States needs a “civilian national security force” that would be as powerful, strong and well-funded as the half-trillion dollar United States Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force have mysteriously disappeared from published transcripts of the speech.
In the comments, Obama confirmed the U.S. “cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set.”
So the trip to Germany is just a fact-finding tour!
There’s more. Or to be technically accurate, there isn’t.
His state legislative office records may have been thrown out, he told us.
He’s never released a specific list of law clients, instead giving a list of all of his firm’s clients, numbering several hundred each year. His campaign will only confirm representation when the media comes to them with a specific case.
He won’t release his application to the state bar. He’s never released any legal or billing records to verify that he only did a few hours of work for a nonprofit tied to Tony Rezko.
He’s never released any medical records, just a one-page letter from his doctor.
Reader Tips
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SDA Late Nite Radio. Tonight, for your delectation and pursuant to our Thursday night wild-card show, we are featuring the song Malagueña. Actually, there are four songs commonly known by that name.
- Here are the Trio Tariacuri (brothers Norberto, Eligio and Juan Mendoza) performing Malagueña Salerosa, which was written by Elpidio & Roque Ramírez and Pedro Galindo (4:08). This one’s a favourite of ours here in the studio, especially the second half.
- Here is the great Jose Feliciano performing a solo instrumental version of the classic Malagueña that y’all are probably familiar with: the sixth movement of the Suite Andalucia by Ernesto Lecuona (4:28).
- Here is Edgardo Roffé performing Malagueña, op. 165, nr. 3, from Isaac Albéniz‘s famous España piano compositions (3:18).
- Unfortunately, we can’t find any version in the Interwebothèque archives of Dmitri Shostakovich‘s Malagueña, the second movement of his 14th symphony; if you know of one please let us know.
Your Reader Tips are, as always, welcome in the comments.
Malaria Resistance Increases HIV Risk
A genetic variation which evolved to protect people of African descent against malaria has now been shown to increase their susceptibility to HIV infection by up to 40 per cent, according to new research. Conversely, the same variation also appears to prolong survival of those infected with HIV by approximately two years.
The discovery marks the first genetic risk factor for HIV found only in people of African descent, and sheds light on the differences in genetic makeup that play a crucial role in susceptibility to HIV and AIDS.
[…]
“In sub-Saharan Africa, the vast majority of people do not express DARC on their red blood cells and previous research has shown that this variation seems to have evolved to protect against a particular form of malaria. However, this protective effect actually leaves those with the variation more susceptible to HIV.”
Related: Aha!
Y2Kyoto: I Miss The Polar Ice Caps
Premiers Clash! Climate Shudders!
Mr. Stelmach and Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall scuttled any hope of a unified cap-and-trade program, making it clear they consider the policy a thinly disguised attempt to share in the billions generated by western oil and gas.
“There’s only one inter-regional transfer of wealth in this country and it’s called equalization,” Mr. Stelmach said. “There won’t be another one from the province of Alberta. And that’s as straight an answer as I can give.”
Well, we’ll see. Hopefully, someone has Peter “The Great Capitulator” Loughheed locked up somewhere far from Stelmach’s ear.
Meanwhile, there’s a half-decent game of “spot the weasel words” in the story itself – for example:
Mr. Wall and Mr. Stelmach cast aspersions on the viability of cap-and-trade … Saskatchewan is home to a CCS project that claims to have saved 10 million tons of CO2 …
… and what the hell are “green credentials”?
Mr. McGuinty has dialed down his expectations — saying beforehand that a consensus is unlikely — while at the same time shoring up his green credentials…
And bonus points if you can spot the scare quotes!
Meaning “fight” is a metaphor for something else? Or, that they don’t really mean it?
(And remember: Ontario has a manufacturing “industry”, the West has oil “riches”.)
Gawd, I love Ottawa “journalism”.
What’s Good Enough For A Media Mogul
Is good enough for a Barenaked Lady.
Now, watch for the Black-bashers calls for the Canadian government to intervene on Steven Page’s behalf to begin in three, two, one…
Who Is Matthew Good?
I mean, is this someone I should know?.
His so-called “child” soldier witnessed the destruction of 9/11. Thus, this so-called “Canadian” chose to fight at the side of foreign terrorists he knew were capable of mass murder. And after finding himself on the losing end of a firefight, this so-called “anxious innocent” watched his one, last “help me” opportunity come and go as he lay in the Afghan dirt.
Instead of grabbing it, he threw a grenade.
So, now he begs?
Omar Khadr deserved to be dispatched then and there. His father might have been dispatched by the Pakistanis, which would have spared everyone a great deal of trouble, were it not for the meddling of Chretien. We made that mistake once – we need not make it again.
So yes, Mr. Good – kill them all. Kill every last one of the wretched vermin and do it before they breed.
I hope he appreciates the traffic bump, whoever he is.
Update – Self described blogging behemoth Matt Good sent a total of 190 visitors to SDA as a result of his July 15th link. Woohoo! Why, that’s nearly 100 a day – bumping the traffic here by nearly 1%, or to look at it another way, by 1/5th the number who arrived at the page via Kathy Shaidle in six hours.
If there ever was a way to impress a backwoods xenophobe about the strength of your readership, I can’t think of a better one. Except perhaps, by mentioning the 70 times you’ve “crossed the country”. Hey, it’s a start!
Upperdate! – unable to prove his “my traffic is bigger than yours” claims, Mr. Good decided that deletion was the better part of valor. Not that it stopped him from whining. Nevermind that Mr. Ad Hominem Is Not Tolerated Here chose to fire the first shot with tired, stereotypical references to “backwoods” Canada that can only be described as abject bigotry. Like every good lefty elitist, Matthew Good’s “multiculturalism” doesn’t include yours.
Not Waiting For The Asteroid
“Through June, [Newsweek’s] advertising pages were down 22.2 percent over the same period in 2007, according to Publishers Information Bureau figures. At Newsweek-rival Time, pages were down 21 percent; U.S. News and World Report—which recently announced it will become a biweekly in 2009—saw a 30 percent drop.”
More at Newsosaur – “In a historic rout, newspaper shares have lost nearly $4 billion in value in the first 10 trading days of July, an amount greater than the combined market capitalization of all but the three largest publicly held publishing companies.”
Reader Tips
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SDA Late Nite Radio. Tonight, for your delectation and pursuant to our Wednesday night comedy show, here are the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band performing The Intro and the Outro (1967, 3:20).
Your Reader Tips are, as always, welcome in the comments.
A Difference in Values
If you’re wondering why many from the West don’t care much for Toronto, this video exemplifies our reasons…
Scoring A 26 On The “IQ And The Quality Of Journalism” Scale…
Eric Margolis praises Robert Mugabe for refusing to be “pushed around” by Western powers…
(h/t bluetech, who reads Margolis so you don’t have to!)
Y2Kyoto: New Opportunities For Child Labour!
Thanks to the efforts of left-wing Western elites, Third World economies are avoiding transformation through the economic miracle known as “sustainable development”;
A leaflet from the charity Practical Action recently solicited donations for some “real cutting-edge technology” to give to African farmers: namely, a plough.
Ploughs might cut the earth, but they haven’t been “cutting-edge technology” for more than 400 years. Nor have water pumps, operated by pulling on a rope or laboriously treading on a wooden platform, which are being pushed onto communities from Ghana to India by carbon-offsetting charities like Climate Care, as replacements for diesel-powered machinery. Some of the treadle pumps are even disguised as roundabouts to exploit child labour.
[…]
Eco-activists managed to slash €4bn worth of EU aid to Third World industries in 2007 alone. They have sabotaged World Bank funding for infrastructure projects, like a hydro-electric dam in Gujarat province, India, which would have provided power for 5,000 villages, industries and sewage-treatment works, irrigation for crops and clean water for 35m people – all because, as one activist said, it would “change the path of the river, kill little creatures along its banks and uproot tribal people”
Tasteless And Offensive
A written statement released to the White House press corps said, “The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature President Bush’s Left-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.”
Snuff At The Associated Press
(Two Afghan women photographed moments before they were executed. The “after” photos, plus the AP video, at the link.)
This is why we despise you.
We would remind the AP that the act of the Taliban inviting a reporter to the murder means they wanted this news out there. The AP was clearly being used as a propaganda outlet for the Taliban.
Does this make him an accomplice or only a witness to the crime? When you know a crime is about to be committed, do you not have a moral and ethical obligation to try to prevent that crime? Even if you’re a journalist? Even if all you do is try to call the authorities, in this case someone in the Afghani government or NATO?
A quick Yahoo News photo search of Rahmatullah Naikzad seems to indicate that he’s very friendly with the Taliban. Many of the pictures show Taliban fighters posing for the AP photographer.