8.3% of Saskatchewan residents check to make sure their campfire is out with what method?
[x] Check coals for heat with bare hands.
This is what happens when parks employees survey themselves.
Prime Minister Perjuror?
Dune Question
If you call up the library, and the folllowing transpires…
Carol: “Delisle Library, Carol speaking.”
Me: “Hi Carol. are you busy at the moment?”
Carol: “What do you mean by busy?”
Me: “Do you have a big line-up of people or something” *stifle giggle*
Carol: “Oh, no.. I’m alone here.”
Me: “Great. Could you do me a favour? Could you look to see if you have a copy of Frank Herbert’s Dune?
Carol: “Boon?”
Me: “No, Dune, D-U-N-E”
Carol: “Dune… oh… and the title is?”
Me: “The title is Dune. Frank Herbert is the author.”
Carol: “Just Dune?”
Me: “Just Dune – like a sand dune.”
Carol: “I have Heretics of Dune”
Me: “No, just Dune. It’s the first of a series.”
Carol: ” Dune Messiah …Children of Dune …The Machine Crusade ”
Me: “Those are others in the series. It has to be Dune. I’m looking for a passage.”
Carol: “Only in Dune? He wouldn’t repeat himself…. no, probably not.”
Me: “Probably not”
Carol: “Well I can look on the internet for you”
Me: “I’m pretty good at that. It’s not there.”
Carol: “Well we have a thing called Infotrack, but I don’t that that would work. It’s more for magazines and …. what’s the word..”
Me: “Periodicals”
Carol: “Yes, periodicals”
Me: “Probably not. I need a paragraph”.
Carol: “But for some reason, we can’t get on it anymore.”
Me: “Well, that’s ok”
Carol: “I’ll look in the back. We have some old books there”
Me: “Thanks”
Carol: “I’ll call you back if I find it”.
Me: “Thanks.”
… You might be in Saskatchewan.
Now – in what is surely to be the strangest question I’ve ever asked here… if anyone surfing in with time on their hands and a copy of Dune handy would be so kind as to send me an email as soon as you possibly can, I need a copy of the passage from the dinner party, where Jessica relates the story of a man drowning…. (check the time stamp to be sure this post isn’t 3 years old before you rush to answer). Or type it in the comments. Or if you do know of a url where I can cut and paste it, better yet. Google came up dry.
I’m desperate here.
UPDATE: Thanks to commentor Trodwell, I have it.
Blog as research tool…. makes me nostalgic for Usenet, in a way.
Reader Links
A bunch of stuff on my plate today, so I’ll leave you kids to play amongst yourselves for a few hours.
You know the drill – if you’ve spotted a good story or post out here, or have one of your own you want to suck a little traffic to, either track back to this post, or leave the url in the comments.
What I would be really interested in are bloggers out on from the left who have useful thoughts on how the Liberals can purge their party of the corrupt and their enablers so that Canadians on all sides of the spectrum can have confidence that our differences are simply ideological and not criminally motivated.
It’s not enough for the current group to lose government. Even a defeated Liberal party is a concern to Canadian democracy if the current band of movers and shakers are allowed to regroup.
I have some of my own, but there’s time later for that.
Was Jesus Gay?
Who cares?
I want an answer on the steroids.
No Wonder People Hate Reporters
I’ve been up since 5 am for no reason at all, other than my sleep patterns are completely disrupted from three days and nights of waiting on an expected litter of puppies. The wee darlings arrived by c-section yesterday, giving my VISA card a case of the bends.
So, there are sometimes sensible explanations for small dead animal postings made at 2 am – namely, small live animals.
Listening to the local news this morning, I caught an item about a businessman in Regina named “Craig McMillan” who’s pulling some crafty scheme to the evade the smoking ban. My ears perked up. You see, that was the second time I’d heard the name “Craig McMillan” this morning.
The first time was at just past seven o’f*ckingclock, when the phone rang with a call from someone who said they were looking for the guy.
As I said, I was already up. Somewhere out there is a reporter who just missed an excellent two word interview.
New Digs
Brad Farquhar is back from “Tajikadinkadinkastan” and he’s moved to a new site and new format. Add Saskatchewan’s first news aggregator to your blogroll; SaskDesk
There’s nothing that irritates those on the “progressive” left more than a “right wing Indian” – so much so that one of Canada’s most gifted opinion writers has been twice silenced by threats. Well, he’s back. . And I hope this time the bigots who try to intimidate him find their names on the front page of the National Post.
Go West Young Librano!
Ordinarily, I would scarcely be interested in an obscure, failed Liberal Party candidate from the west (where using words “failed” and “obscure” when describing Liberals place one in jeopardy of literary redundancy). Different strokes for different folks, though. Don at All Things Canadian seems to think Jim Travers take is worth reading today.
If paying party workers with taxpayer dollars worked in Quebec, then why not elsewhere? In fact, way back in 2002 The Toronto Star reported that similar tactics were allegedly used coast-to-coast.
In Atlantic Canada, a fantasy federal contract is said to have paid a provincial Liberal campaign organizer. Out West, a prospective candidate’s salary was allegedly reimbursed through inflated advertising payments.
Neither case has been tested in court or heard by Gomery, who is narrowly focused on Quebec. And it’s also true there is little incentive to break what until now has been a circle of silence protected with all the ferocity of junkyard dogs.
Will Brault’s surprisingly candid revelations finally expose all that noise as just the yapping of those with much to hide?
Unfortunately, Travers is factually incorrect.
Unlike most people who write about dogs or use them as colourful metaphors, I have actually trained a few – including, once upon a time, a personal protection dog.
Good junkyard dogs don’t bark. They don’t act ferociously. A professionally trained junkyard dog remains sleeping in the sun while you approach his compound. He snaps at a buzzing fly in response to that stick you’re running against the fence. When the wirecutters come out, he sits up, sends you a direct gaze …. and scratches an itchy ear with hind leg.
Until you’ve breached the wire and crossed that invisible boundary into the region of No Possible Escape (also know as the World Of Hurt) there will be no indication whatsoever that you’ve awakened anything more dangerous than someone’s geriatric pet.
No, Mr Travers – junkyard dogs don’t yap.
Poodles do.
Liberal “Audit” Conflict Of Interest?
The Montreal firm that conducted the review (or audit if you talk to a Liberal MP) on the Quebec wing of the Liberal party’s finances, *Samson Blair Deloitte & Touche*, the same firm that has donated over $100,000 to the party, has previously employed MP Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs, as vice president.
It’s confirmed on his website.
Update: Sean just dumped a boatload of links in the comments on this. If they’re all as good as the first one…
Andrew Scheer, M.P
Andrew Scheer, M.P has joined the blogosphere – another politiican taking a chance on speaking directly to the electorate without the safety filter of communications spin. He’s got comments open at the moment – go send him some encouragement. It’ll be interesting to see how long that lasts once the moonbats begin to descend.
He points to an essay by Robin Sears, a former national director of the NDP, titled The Left: From Hope to Sneers in only 25 Years. The essay is available here in PDF
Google’s HTML version.
Sounds like it should be required reading for our friends on the left. But go check out Andrew first.
World’s Longest Unguarded Sieve
If you’re like me, and get a sense that border surveillance on the US-Canadian prairies is more illusion than reality, you’re not wrong.;
A scathing new report by the union representing Canada’s customs agents suggests bad policy and slow police response have turned the country’s border into a sieve easily exploited by criminals.
The leaked document, which was prepared last week for a Senate committee reviewing security at entry points across the country, reiterates longstanding union demands for an armed presence at the border. Appended to the report is a list, compiled by the Canada Border Services Agency, of 116 ports of entry and distances to the nearest law enforcement detachments.
Nearly half are at least 25 kilometres away, with most rural ports located 50 kilometres or more from the closest police station.
“It stands to reason that distance between a police detachment to a customs port is not a perfect marker for police response time,” the Customs Excise Union report acknowledges.
“But it does highlight challenges posed by distance and, in some examples, clearly illustrates that even if a police cruiser could travel at high speed with its siren on, response times are beyond minutes and span into hours.”
There’s a reason he chose the words “even if”.
Andy Rooney On The Witness Stand
A lawyer’s worst nightmare….
Leading a parade of celebrity witnesses who claimed they were stiffed by a speakers bureau, Andy Rooney began his testimony Monday by questioning the wording of the oath to tell the truth. […] “No, no, no, Mr. Rooney,” said federal Judge Colleen McMahon, her head in her hands. “The first rule is the witness never gets to ask any questions … even if he’s a journalist.”
Rooney and others are witnesses in a fraud trial of Alan Walker. Rooney claims he’s owed $10K.
When defense lawyer Kerry Lawrence asked Rooney how he found Walker’s address, Rooney said he didn’t remember, but, “As an old reporter, we have a few secrets, and the first thing is we try the phone book.”
Hat tip to Wizbang
Damn
I just checked the TTLB ecosystem, and the readership surge here at SDA over the past week has moved the site to #18 position in traffic ranking.
Gomery: Open A Window
The way things are going, Justice Gomery is going to have to start checking for Smoking Firearms Acquisition Certificates.
(Former Groupaction Marketing employee) Renaud testified that Guite often said contracts would be approved only after getting the green light from the country’s highest political office.
“He (Guite) said, ‘We’ll look at the project, present this to the (public works) minister and it has to go through the prime minister’s office’ and that’s how it worked,” Renaud said during his second day on the stand.
Another four Liberal MP’s are reported considering crossing the floor. In my opinion, I think it’s the only way honourable Liberal members can preserve their personal reputations at the moment. This is not a new scandal – the odor has been permeating this government for years. Same sex marriage opposition is also a factor – it is not supported by the majority of Canadians, polls reveal, and it decidedly less popular in rural ridings.
Related – Captain’s Quarters is as attentive as ever to developments, providing a valuable linking point between his strong US and new Canadian readership.
Worthington says this weeks testimony has the Liberals “bracing for a bomb”.
Earnscliffe Investigated
Politics Watch has an exclusive report that the Commons public accounts committee is looking for a few good men.
Unfortunately, Mr. Warren Kinsella and Ms. Terrie O’Leary will have to do.
Even more unfortunately, they may have to be subpeonaed. There are a few matters about the firm known as Earnscliffe that the committee would like to have straightened out, and they’re not answering their calls.
Update The subpeonas have been issued.
Quick Question
Does anyone know of a “forum communication” or the name “simard” in connection with the Brault or other sponsorship testimony?
Just checking out something that probably means nothing at all, but I’d be interested in feedback, if any.
Reader Links
I have a heavy week of work ahead of me, so blogging will likely slow up.
I’ll inviting readers to post the good stuff they find out there today in the comments. I’ve turned the html back on, so hopefully they’ll function properly as clickable links.
(If it’s not work safe, please indicate that too.)
Shootout At The Yonge Street Corral
High noon in the heart of Toronto.
TWO INNOCENT bystanders were shot yesterday when a gunman opened fire on another man on a crowded sidewalk at Yonge and Dundas Sts. “It was terrifying; a shooting on Yonge St. when there are families and hundreds of people everywhere,” said Denise Lewis, 35, who was shopping at HMV when the shooting started on Yonge at Gould St. around 4:30 p.m.
Unlikely to make much more than local news – like the multiple murder on a reserve here a few weeks ago, these stories undermine the “gun control makes Canadians safer” mantra.
Occasionally, someone defends the registry to me – that the legislation saves lives. The debate ends abruptly when I remind them that it’s already illegal to shoot people.
Chrenkoff
Chrenkoff’s latest roundup of good news from Iraq is out.
Drudge is also headlining a New York Times (free registration required) piece suggesting the US is starting to look at winding down the military presence.
Two years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the American-led military campaign in Iraq is making enough progress in fighting insurgents and training Iraqi security forces to allow the Pentagon to plan for significant troop reductions by early next year, senior commanders and Pentagon officials say.
Senior American officers are wary of declaring success too soon against an insurgency they say still has perhaps 12,000 to 20,000 hard-core fighters, plentiful financing and the ability to change tactics quickly to carry out deadly attacks. But there is a consensus emerging among these top officers and other senior defense officials about several positive developing trends, although each carries a cautionary note.
Some occupiers they turned out to be.
The Polls Begin
A new Eskos poll out has the Liberals slipping to 25%, with the Conservatives at 36%. We’ll be seeing a flurry of these in the next few days and weeks, with or without an election call.
Paul Martin remains undeterred! He’s taking the initiative and asking Justice Gomery to “follow the money”.
The Liberal Party will call on Mr. Justice John Gomery today to investigate whether large sums of money allegedly paid to well- connected members for government sponsorship contracts ever made it to the party coffers.
Well, I suppose that make sense in a way… during his years as Finance Minister his job was only to shovel it out.
Poll (PDF) here.