Live Blogging Gary Bettman

Roadkill 4 Comments

Breaking News from the NHL… Gary Bettman is now speaking about the status of the negotiations between the owners and NHL players association:

“Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blahblah blah blah blah blah, blablah blah blah blah blah. Blahblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blahblah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah – bblah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah .”
[…]
“Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah.”

Bob Goodenow. NHLPA Executive Director responds;

“Beak beak beak beakbeak. Beak beak beak beak beak beak, “Blah blah blah blah”. Beak beak beak, beak beak beak beak beak beak beak beak, beakbeak beak beak beak – beak beak! Beak beak beakbeak beak beak beak beak beak. Beakbeak. “

Yawn.

Cooling The Planet, One Person At A Time

Roadkill 3 Comments

Climate Control Bureau senior policy adviser and Environment Canada spokesman Burns Coutts*(link now dead) gets a 5 year jumpstart on the One-Tonne Challenge.
*Dorothy Halton [,,,] was found strangled to death in her condo. She was an emergency room physician who was described by her friends and family as compassionate, energetic and talented. Her ex-boyfriend, Burns Coutts, a senior policy advisor with Environment Canada, was charged with first-degree murder. (December 2004)
Hat tip – Kevin Jaeger

Reader Tips

Reader Tips 3 Comments

Canada is becoming a preferred route for the loose security travel industry
Rachel Ehrenfeld in National Review – “Had the U.S not gone ahead with its plan to liberate Iraq, we would have never discovered the extent of the corruption in the U.N.’s Oil-for-Food program. But while Oil-for-Food is the biggest, scope-wise, of any known corruption in an international organization, it is merely the culmination of years of corrupt U.N. practices.”
Juan Cole, Professor of History, Middle East Commentator, Idiot.
Craig Brett looks at a bit of disingenuous poll spin by the Canadian media on the success of the Bush visit. Say it isn’t so!

Embrace Hollywood

Embrace Hollywood 15 Comments

“Democrats need to embrace Hollywood because this is where they need to come to learn how to tell a story.” – Michael Moore*

“Republicans know that there is a massive population of people who are too stupid to vote, and that no one in their right mind would necessarily want them for their constituency anyway, except perhaps David Duke. However, these are hard times for the GOP, and they cannot afford to be choosy when it comes to registered voters. Republicans know that they may not be able to sway anyone with their ideas on domestic and foreign policy, or their views on the economy, but they do know that hatred and bigotry are great motivators. They get the ear of the leaders of these so called ‘family groups’ and Christian media watchdogs and warn them of the impending storm of gay ‘legitimization’ and they get them all riled up by telling them that gays are going to get married and move into their neighborhoods. As if a newly married gay couple would ever choose to live in a trailer park. They pump up these Bible thumping, cousin humping genetic mistakes with hot air and propaganda which sends them into a mullet fantasia of pink trianglesand rainbow flags, and convinces them that their tax dollars will be used to foot the bill for Elton John and George Michael’s wedding.
Hatred is a powerful motivator, and these Christian soldiers will march onward, fighting tooth and nail for the theoretical hand in marriage, to protect marriage. “You’ll get this bouquet when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.” Although the Republican party doesn’t openly endorse prejudice, if it results in more votes, then no one is complaining. It really is genius, harnessing hatred in order to further your own political party. We wish that democrats would have thought of it first, but even if they had, the plan to introduce prejudice as an enlistment strategy doesn’t work with the ethical ideals of the party. Compassion really does block the way to power.
What is deeply distressing is the incredible numbers of people who are vehemently opposed to equality, and the need for them to deny equal rights to others simply because they cannot bear the thought of equality. It isn’t like anyone who is against marriage equality would be directly affected by the existence of it. Not unless they were part of the wedding industry, and then they could reserve the right to refuse service anyway. More likely, they would welcome the extra revenue. Gay marriage would create a huge boon, and it is doubtful anyone would turn away cold hard cash. Greed remarkably has no bias. This is evidenced in the way that Republicans will pander to this creepy Christ crowd and allow the asinine, the atrociously unfit and the morally repugnant to swell their ranks because it means more for them, and more is where it is at if you are a Republican. — Margaret Cho, comedian.

A World Away, Con’t

Blogging 1 Comment

Roger Simon hosted Mohammed and Omar of Iraq The Model last evening.

… I think I can speak for the others present when I say both brothers exuded a unique combination of calm, warmth and intelligence. They are also deep lovers of freedom in a way it is difficult to be for those of us who grow up with it. If many Iraqis are like these two young Baghdad dentists, I am quite anxious to go to Iraq.
I was relieved by what they were like on a deeper level as well. They don’t know this, but on the darkest days of the war, at the times the media were at their gloomiest and I was racked with guilt that I had so adamantly supported our actions, I almost always turned first to them. I didn’t look to them for unbiased opinions. There is no such thing. I looked to them to see how real Iraqis were reacting to a situation that affected them more directly than it could ever affect me or the prognosticators of doom in our media. They were the ones who bucked me up-not the other way around, as it should be. In a certain sense they helped my sanity. And I suspect I am not alone in that. Few writers in or out of the blogosphere can say as much.
After we ate and imbibed, Mohammed and Omar fielded our questions and told amusing anecdotes about their visit here, including to the White House. (Bush evidently joked about having his teeth examined.) Mickey Kaus asked if Sunnis would participate in the election. Omar and Mohammed, who are Sunnis themselves, said that many would, that the impression we get of the Sunni Triangle is skewed by reporting. I hope they’re right. These people are incredibly courageous. When you meet them it’s hard to understand why some of us could be rooting against them, but the not-so-sub subtext of many of the war’s opponents is just that. You see, they keep saying, look how bad it is-it’s our fault. I wish they could talk to Mohammed and Omar. I think even the Michael Moores of the world would have trouble saying it to them face-to- face. These men are the hope of democracy. I hope some day to meet their brother Ali… in Baghdad.

Previous post here. Go read brother Ali’s comments from Baghdad as well.

Condition Of Anonymity

Media No Comments

Incessant Rant;

This is what happens when you search GOOGLE using the phrase “condition of anonymity” and a desired publication (and a few blogs). What does it mean? Probably nothing. I just found it interesting that the two most left leaning print media publications out pace their nearest competition by an average of about 500%.

Surely a coincidence.

2004 Weblog Awards – Final Tally

Blogging 19 Comments

The full results are now up.
Major categories:
Best Overall – Powerline
Best New (Est.2004) – Kerry Spot
Best Group Blog – Volokh Conspiracy
Best Humor – Scrappleface
Best Liberal Blog – Matthew Yglesias
Best Conservative Blog – Captain’s Quarters
Best Media/Journalist Blog – Best Of The Web
Best Military Blog – Blackfive
Best Essayist – Victor Davis Hansen
Best Canadian Blog – small dead animals
Best UK Blog – Belgravia Dispatch
Best European (Non UK) – Dissident Frogman
Best Middle East /Africa – Iraq The Model
I wish to thank The Academy, the accounting company of Aylward & Associates and most of all my readers! It’s a pretty nice birthday present.
Update – Indispensible hints on building a “winning” blog. A must read.

Axis Of Appeasals

Roadkill 4 Comments

Canada’s Strategy To Combat Terrorism : “Be proactive. Do not wait for threat to emerge. Announce preemptive surrender.”

Iraqis living in Canada and Germany face problems in taking part in next month’s elections because the two countries are worried that polling centres might be attacked, Iraq’s electoral commission said.

The Axis Of Appeasals.

The Canadian government told the IOM that “for security reasons it could not hold foreign elections on its territory”, Ayar said in a statement.
This could lead to a deal on voting arrangements for the country’s 36,000 Iraqis, most of whom live in or near Toronto, being delayed or even scuppered, he said.

Huh. Wasn’t that easy? If only we’d know about this “scupper Toronto votes” thing in time for the last federal election.
Then again, there aren’t any Libranos on the IOM ballots.

Views Diverge

What He Said 7 Comments

Go read Colby today.

“… the Supreme Court has left itself–for better or worse–defenceless against polygamy. You don’t think “views diverge” on how many people belong in a marriage? All they do, all over the world, is diverge. There is a great deal more “divergence of opinion” on this subject than there had ever been, before about 1970, on what sexes could get married. The language used here is so doctrinaire in its deference to disagreement that Muslims and unreformed Mormons have, to all intents, already won their case. Feminist opponents of polygamy in fundamentalist religious communities will find, soon, that the “living tree” bears bitter fruit.”

Weblog Awards – Final Push!

Blogging 1 Comment

First – thanks to everyone who has been voting for small dead in Best Canadian category. Thanks, also, to the other bloggers who’ve sent their endorsements this way.
Here are mine again;
Go JEFF! – in the tough Humor category, Protein Wisdom has finally moved into a narrow lead. (sorry, link fixed)
Fellow Canadian Ghost Of A Flea is currently in fifth in Best Culture, but in striking distance of 4th.
Bill at INDC may have to invite Jim Geraghty over for a tasty meal to claim the
Best New Blog prize, but let’s keep him within striking distance.
As much as I love and depend on Instapundit, my vote this year goes to Powerline for Best Overall. Strong daily writing, and the work they did on Rathergate tipped the balance for me.
And of course, Canadian ubercolumnist, Mark Steyn for the Media/Journalist category.
In best Conservative, I’ve been voting for James at Outside The Beltway. One tough category. Another favorite, is competing in the Ecosystem Top 100 – Politburo Diktat.
And don’t forget the Military bloggers who fought to make half of the entries in the Middle East category possible. I don’t think any of them care who you vote for. Just vote for somebody, and then go read ’em all.

Nobel Prize In Genocidal Conspiracy Theory

Moonbats 1 Comment

Powerline thinks it’s time for the Oslo folks “to hang it up”. This week they awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Kenya’s Wangari Maathai. In addition to her qualifications as a world class tree planter, she’s been pretty good at watering conspiracy theories.

“Do not be naive. AIDS is not a curse from God to Africans or the black people. It is a tool to control them designed by some evil-minded scientists.
“I may not be able to say who developed the virus, but it was meant to wipe out the black race.”

She later claimed the quote was taken out of context. As Hindrocket notes, “If so, it must have been quite a context.”

Towards The Pencil Sharpener Registry

Insufferable Twits 6 Comments

In recognition of the rabid determination of the Liberals, NDP and Bloc to burn another $96.5M at the feet of the Gun Registry God[tm], I present this glimpse of the future, as it exists today in Britian.

Pencil sharpeners have been banned from a primary school after a pupil dismantled one and used the blade to slash another child’s neck. … The attacker was suspended for two days and is now back in school. … Headteacher David Willis has now banned all pencil sharpeners. But the decision to allow the boy to return to school has angered parents. Some have signed a petition calling on the school to permanently expel the youngster.
The school management argued that while pencil sharpeners could be proscribed the attacker could not be prevented from returning. Tracy Buckley, the school’s head of governors, has written to all parents, saying the school understood the gravity of the incident and acted accordingly. The letter states: “The school, like every other school, has a duty to promote ‘inclusion’ of all pupils. The emphasis of the (DfES) guidance is that a permanent exclusion is discouraged and to be considered as a last resort in very extreme circumstances. A fixed period exclusion was entirely appropriate for the circumstances.”� … Yesterday, the Manchester Evening News reported how teachers at Priestnall High School in Stockport started acting as bodyguards, patrolling streets round their school, following attacks on five pupils.

Via Belmont Club. Go read the rest.

Dogs Of War

Military 4 Comments

If there were any lingering doubt about the success of the battle of Fallujah,
this news item should dispel it.

“Rabies, and standing water, are our most immediate concerns,” said Captain Dennis Staggs, a surgeon with the 1st Marine Exepditionary Force (MEF), adding that among a host of measures suggested to head off a health crisis, medical officers said feral animals should be cleared from the city.
“If you consider the entire public health situation, with nobody in town, there’s no public health crisis, and if it is prepared correctly there won’t be a health crisis,” Staggs said Wednesday.
Standing by his humvee last week in northern Fallujah, marine Lance Corporal Will Lathrop of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit said, “The problem has gotten bad enough that there’s actually an order for this,” referring to a command issued recently to deal with Fallujah’s feral animals.
[…]
A gunnery sergeant stalked past the convoy, tersely ordering his executioners to put on surgical gloves before handling the dead animals, his mouth pulled into the tight grimace of a man trying to finish the job before him as quickly as possible.
“This is hard on these guys, especially killing the dogs. But these animals have been eating dead bodies. They can spread disease,” said Lieutenant Aaron Brown, grimly reciting the toll for the day — several cats and at least one dog.

PETA is going to be all over this…. though I suspect they’ll stop short of calling up human shields.
(I’ve corrected my oversight and provided the link – so the reference to PETA takes on more significance…)

Distrust, Then Verify

Media 6 Comments

Steve Verdon demonstrates today at Outside The Beltway why googling transcripts is becoming one of the blogosphere’s most productive techniques. A quote from Donald Rumsfeld is presented in falsified context by Spencer Ackerman at the New Republic, whereupon Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly decides it makes a fine springboard for his own purposes.
Drum:

But go read Spencer Ackerman’s summary of Rumsfeld’s performance. Sure, we ought to have more armor for our Humvees by now, but this isn’t really a question of armor, it’s a question of respect:

Today, he came face to face with pissed-off frontline soldiers. And he treated them with the same arrogance and condescension that their superior officers have come to expect. To the question about unequal retirement benefits for equal service, Secretary Marie Antoinette replied, “I can’t imagine anyone your age worrying about retirement. Good grief.”

Indeed. Hard to imagine an average joe worrying about retirement. Who does this grunt think he is?

Well, Kevin – maybe he thinks he’s a grunt in a room with a Secretary of Defense who’s comfortable enough to share a mildly self-effacing joke with his troops? Here is Rumsfeld’s actual answer:

SEC. RUMSFELD: [Laughter] I can’t imagine anyone your age worrying about retirement. [Laughter] Good grief. It’s the last thing I want to do is retire. The pay and benefits for the Guard and the Reserve relative to the active force have been going up unevenly at a rate faster than the active force. If you go back over four years – matter of fact, I just went over this with the senior person in the department who looks at pay and benefits. And apparently, what’s happened is that for a variety of reasons, the incremental changes that are made each year, in terms of pay and benefits and health care and retirement and what have you, have brought the Guard and Reserve up at a faster level than the active force. And what one has to do in managing the total force and the total force is critically important. We need the Guard and Reserve as well as the active force. And we have to see that we have the incentives arranged in a way that we can attract and retain the people that are needed to defend the country. At the moment, we are doing well in terms of attracting and retaining the people we need. And if anything, I think the data suggests that the Guard and Reserve forces had been advantaged relatively compared to the active force over the past four years. Question.

Keep in mind that these aren’t two neophyte amateur bloggers. Drum and Ackerman are paid to write this crap. You’d think fact checking before writing would be part of the job description, unless of course – the job is crafting dishonest, politically-motivated hit pieces.
Oh… wait….

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