Christian Conservative Christian "Independent"

I'm an evangelical Christian, member of the CPC, but presently & unjustly exiled to wander the political wilderness.
All opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Liberals: "Walk LOUDLY and carry a BIG STICK"

Just to mis-quote Teddy Rosevelt... (he said "softly")

Seems the Liberal Party of Canada found this image from HezboLiberal.com offensive...
I can't fathom why... ;-)

Looks like they pulled out the legal BIG STICK on HezboLiberal's ISP...
To whom it may concern,

Please be advised that the use of the Liberal Party of Canada's logo and the link to the Liberal Party's website, through the website http://www.hezboliberal.com/ hosted by your company, is a breach of Canadian Copyright and Trademarks laws. The references on that website are also slanderous and libelous.

Please ask your client to remove any reference to the Liberal Party of Canada using any sign, logo or other identification owned by the Liberal Party of Canada.

I trust you will govern yourself accordingly.


Guy Régimbald

Director of Legal Affairs and Legal Counsel
Directeur des affaires juridiques et avocat-conseil
Liberal Party of Canada/Parti Libéral du Canada
Tel: 613-783-8405
Cell: 613-294-3372
Fax: 613-235-7208
Email/Courriel: gregimbald@liberal.ca
www.liberal.ca
Boy, they can dish it, but they sure can't take it! (they really are no fun)

Oops, I guess I wasn't supposed to post that pic... so I edited it... but of course, I still have a copy... ;-)

Here's the thing though... use of corporate logos in spoof has been occuring for years. There are loads of t-shirts out there with all kinds of twisted logos. And, if I recall correctly, the courts have upheld many cases of such use. I think they're just being a little heavy-handed in all this. Take a pill guys, and relax... only a few of us bloggers are going to see the thing anyway! (unless, of course, you're admitting that we lowly bloggers have more public influence than you're willing to admit...)


UPDATE: Well, looks like I was correct... the blogs are more powerful than the "elite" would have us believe! Since my traffic has increased exponentially thanks to the front page link from Caledonia Wake Up Call, I thought I update things...

First of all, to the Liberal Party staff who are reading this (I've been expecting you) please remember that the whole "HezboLiberal" was just a spoof. I had nothing to do with it of course, but I thought it was kinda funny... then I moved on. I in no way associated the Liberal Party of Canada with Hezbollah... I took the modified logo at face value. It was a comment on the FEW members of your party who said some boneheaded things, and the whole thing would have blown over had you left well enough alone. But, instead, you threatened legal action against the person who created the website... you pulled out a pretty heavy stick there. And THAT's what has now caused this thing to spread... like a wildfire! (I'm averaging 3-4 hits a MINUTE right now over this)

So, there are several morals to this story, but the main point is this... the blogs are here, and we're here to stay. We have more influence than you would like to admit, so next time, try treading a little more lightly.

Again, this post was not intended to link the Liberal Party to terrorists, but was made as a commentary on your heavy-handed tactics relating to the owner and ISP of HezboLiberal.com.

Have a nice day!

Monday, August 28, 2006

Bloc MP Killed in Car Accident

Just in from the CBC... Bloc Québécois MP Benoît Sauvageau was killed today in a car accident near Montreal.

My sincere condolances to the family.

Talk about the coolest

Having just said that I'm taking a Microsoft Course... Google continues it's attempt to kill Microsoft...

Talk about one of the coolest apps EVER...

Light blogging this week

I'll be on a training course all this week, so blogging with be light. Hopefully, by the end of this week, I'll be a "Microsoft Certified Professional" for Windows Server 2003!

Friday, August 25, 2006

The Madness of Caledonia

Just who is "Hazel Hill"? I've been reading her posts on Ottawa Core of late, and every time I do, I get totally annoyed and frustrated. Based on her most recent post, I'm getting the impression that the Six Nations "negotiations" in Caledonia are about nothing less than a total stop of all development along a 12km swath of land along the entire length of the Grand River... unless, of course, they're first cleared by the Six Nations. Just read her posts for yourself... take a careful look at the sort of language she uses. This is total and complete madness.

Let's just put that in perspective... that 12km swath (6kms either side of the Grand River) covers most of Caledonia, Brantford, Paris, Cambridge, and large chunks of Kitchener and Waterloo. Are they then, based on the statements of people like Hazel, effectively wanting to "re-establish" control over a good chuck of the powerhouses of Southwestern Ontario?

Like I've been saying people, what's going on in Caledonia is about a whole lot more than just a housing development. It's about whether or not Canada has a right to exist, and whether or not our governments (municipal, provincal, and federal) have the right to exert control within our internationally recognzed borders. It comes down to what John Tory as been pointing out... "The Rule of Law". And I've heard over and over again from protest supporters, "Your laws don't apply here." (in effect, "Canadian Laws" do not apply on Canadian soil...)

We certianly do need these negotiations to continue... and to come to a final solution to end this madness, once and for all.

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Total Weirdness

How's this for ya? My wife is reading a book she just borrowed from the Library... and the line she just read, talks about three characters... the first one listed is my first name, the second one is my middle name, and the third one? MY LAST NAME. All in order. How weird is that?

The Ontario Health "Premium"

Warren's done a few of these of late, so I figured I'd throw one out there...

"I won't raise your taxes. But I won't cut them either."

Guess who said it? HINT - ask Warren ;-)

The Ontario Government just announced that the projected 2005-2006 Budget deficit is now gone... they actually posted a $300 million dollar surplus.

A Tory MPP made the comment, "Maybe now it's time to see the government get rid of the Health Tax."

The Ontario Health Tax... er, "Premium". It's something that has bothered me since it was announced... so I figured I'd sit down and chew some numbers to see how much it's really affected me. I crunched the numbers, and here's what I came up with.

2003 Ontario Tax rate, pre-"premium" - 3.7%
2004 Ontario Tax rate, with "premium" - 3.4%
2005 Ontario Tax rate, with "premium" - 3.6%

Okay, so my overall tax rate was lower both years... but those years also coincided with a significant drop in my annual income, due to a layoff, etc. But what if I had actually seen the tax reductions that the previous Harris Government had introduced?

2004 Ontario Tax rate (sans "premium") - 3.0% (vs. 3.4%)
2005 Ontario Tax rate (sans "premium") - 2.8% (vs. 3.6%)

Hummm... I think that qualifies as a net tax "increase".

Just an observation.

Iggy under attack

According to The Globe & Mail, the Ignatieff camp is reporting that someone, likely from another leadership camp, is using new Liberal membership lists to launch anonymous attacks on his campaign... which is a violation of the rules for these new membership lists.
Senior Ignatieff strategist Ian Davey believes another leadership camp is using the new membership lists to contact Liberal members, sending out anonymous letters and pointing to a website full of anti-Ignatieff material and criticisms. "...there are people in the Liberal Party and, make no mistake this is coming from inside the Liberal Party, who are not interested in renewal of the party," Mr. Davey said. ". . . the fact that this kind of stuff goes on, that we have people who haven't got the courage to put their name on something and hide behind anonymity and yet have access to memberships lists, and new memberships lists, these are the membership lists that have come out in the last 30 days, so this is coming from inside the Liberal Party."
Sounds like the old guard and their old tricks are still alive and well within the Liberal Party of Canada.
"A party official said yesterday that a "significant" number of the 184,000 Liberal Party members have recently received these anti-Ignatieff e-mails and letters.

Authors of the letter, which is dated Aug. 22, do not identify themselves. Rather, they say they are "longtime active members" who are "disturbed" about the Ignatieff bid.
Those members have received mailings and e-mails pointing them to a website called StopIggy.com.

Is the Liberal ground war starting? If so, make sure you start saving all this stuff to your archives... some of it may come in handy in the next election. ;-)

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Day Wins Leadership

Anyone else getting a sense of "Deja-vu"?
(sorry, best pic I could find)

Okay, wrong Day, but same deal with the commitment on "No Two Tier Health Care". Seriously though, it's nice to see the CMA, with its new president, Dr. Brian Day, coming around to my way of thinking. ;-) I've said for a long time that there should not be such a stigma against private delivery of services when the public system is failing. It was kinda cool listening to Andy Barrie on CBC this morning... he wasn't bashing the idea, which you would naturally expect from a CBC personality.

While we're on the topic, do you want to know the REAL reason our Health Care system sucks? On average, 60-70% of your health care dollars go towards salaries and benefits. I took a quick look at the books of four unnamed institutions (one in Toronto, rest in GTA)...

Percentage of Ministry Funding spent on Salaries and Benefits:
77% - 68% - 66% - 86%
(in the interest of self-preservation, these numbers do NOT include my own organization... LOL)

I also took a look at the books for Sick Kids, and they present an extreme example... of course, in order to get the best staff, (which we want for our kids) you have to put out the cash. However, that being said...

Ministry of Health Funding = $337,735,000
Cost of Salaries and Benefits = $350,942,000
(yes, that is a negative result you're looking at)

They had other revenue streams too, but still ended up with a net shortfall of $5,265,000.

Try looking up your own local hospital's annual report.

So, my question is this... in delivering health services, could the private sector do better? I'm no expert, but in looking at these numbers, the answer I come to is, "Perhaps".

Monday, August 21, 2006

Liberal Mole inside Kennedy Camp

I'm sure we've all heard about the BC Liberal Youth who was a wee bit careless in sharing his views on Israel. Well, apparently he's been working for the Gerard Kennedy team for the Liberal Leadership. I hopped onto Gerard's site (as inspired by Warren) to see if any comment had been posted by them yet... and it appears that the good old "Liberal Mole" has been working on Gerard's website... nice little screen cap... check the "Breaking News"...


Yes indeed, they do have a voice... and I think we've heard it loud and clear, thank you very much. But just for good measure, here's a quote from that news item...
Kennedy commented, "Youth are the driving force in reshaping the Liberal Party. They represent the future of Canada, so it's very exciting to see groups like Generation Kennedy finding innovative ways to raise their voices and participate in the political process."
Amm, yea, thanks... but I think we've heard enough from some raised voices, at least for the moment.

On other matters, it's nice to see that other parties have to deal with the same headaches of MP's putting their foot in their mouths... Bill Graham has had to pipe up and counter comments made by Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj , which have been construde by some as being pro-Hezbollah.

All in all, these last two weeks have not been good for the Liberal Party of Canada, at least when it comes to the Jewish voting block. (such as in North Toronto and Montreal) First, the high level defections... then, this young BC Libber... now, an MP. May end up being a called third strike.

I'll repeat my previous prediction... look for Michael Fortier to run in Montreal's Jewish quarter in the next election.


UPDATE: I missed this... looks like Borys Wrzesnewskyj is also a Kennedy supporter. (h/t Stepehen Taylor) Gerard, don't you hate it when you get unfairly tarnished by individual idiots within your own ranks? I know how you feel... has been happening to the CPC for years. Though I must say, it's nice to see it happening to the other guys for once...

UPDATE II: Kennedy has posted a response... "No negotiation with terrorists."

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Accidental Irony

Well, I'm in the middle of reading two books... Trudeau's "Memoirs", as well as a book of a more theological nature.

Anywho, I had grabbed the first thing I saw lying around to use as a bookmark for that other book earlier today. When I picked up that book again this evening, I set the bookmark down on my little reading table... right on top of Trudeau's book. It was just a little ironic, so I felt that I just had to take a pic...

Lumber Industry now supports Softwood Deal

This came in on the QT from the MSM... BC, Ontario, and now Quebec's Lumber industries have now thrown their support behind the Softwood Lumber agreement, now that Washington has agreed to changes involving the termination clauses.

Now it goes to the House of Commons. Point, Harper. (go ahead... call me a partisan...)

Friday, August 18, 2006

I'm back... looks like I didn't miss much!

I can tell that I didn't miss much when I see my own post, THAT I MADE 5 DAYS AGO, still showing at the bottom of the Blogging Tories aggrogator page! What, did everyone choose this week to go on vacation or something?

Been keeping sort-of up to date on stuff via CBC Radio News... it has been a slow week I gather. Ceasefire is taking effect, good to see. Here's waiting to see if the UN will actually follow through and disarm Hezbollah... who have already said that they "will not be disarmed by anyone". Heard that Bevilaqua dropped out, and that he supported Rae. Orchard supporting Dion... he's going to be the darkhorse contender, I've been saying for some time now. National Post is reporting that former PM Jean C. is supporting Rae behind the scenes? Look for Rae, Dion, Kennedy and Iggy in the Top 5... not sure who else will be in there with them, but I think one more will be.

As for this week, it's been really good, as I've had some time to think a few things through. Some of my readers will chide me for my choice of reading while away... I snagged the local library's copy of "Godless", the new book by good old Annie C. NO, I don't take what she writes as gospel truth, but she's good for a laugh... and she actually has some really good points to consider this time around. I do actually recommend it, solely because she takes on some of the "sacred cows" of the leftist movement, and asks some hard questions that no one else wants to dare to ask. (and she has a few good zingers in it too!) More on that as I formulate my thoughts over the next 24-72 hours.

I also had a chance to finish "Rescuing Canada's Right" by Adam and Tasha... good stuff. A solid examination of some of the flaws in our current "conservative" movement, and some good advice on the steps needed to "move the goalposts" in the current debate in Canadian politics. Reading this also gave me the chance to chew on various thoughts I've had over the last few months, so I hope to have more on that over the next few days too.

To counter any accusations that I'm only reading one-sided works, don't forget that I have and have read Warren's "Kicking A** in Canadian Politics", and "Grits", a history lesson in the Liberal Party of Canada, written by a Liberal insider. I'm also finally getting started on my copy of Treaudeu's "Memoirs", because I've discovered one thing... the more I find out about the man and his views, the less I like him. Reading the thoughts of the man himself will either refute what I've been learning, or confirm it. Thoughts on that over the next few months.

Also finally took time to write out my thoughts for my "idea", which is to go to our EDA Board's policy meeting this Fall. It's an idea fostered by some of our crime and punishment discussions here on this blog... so, to all who have commented, thanks for your thoughts... now let's see if we can turn discussion into positive action!

Hopefully it will be supported by our Board... I'm planning on putting together a solid proposal that will make it a slam dunk, at least locally. From there, it will go to our regional policy meeting... where, if supported, will be forwarded to our Policy Convention in Winnipeg next spring... where it will be voted on, and if approved, becomes official Party policy. What is it, you ask? Come on... I can't tell you yet! But it has to do with a few of the things discussed here... focusing on not only on dealing with crime, but also working to help deal with some of its roots. So stay tuned... and thanks for all your input!

Anyway, I had a great week, my wife said it was the best camping trip we've had in our 5 years of marriage... and I agree with her! Great weather, good reading, rest, relaxation, and some canoeing. What have you all been up to?

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Tories with guns... in our cities

I'm going to be in a beautiful and remote corner of this beautiful province of Ontario for a week, so there won't be any new posts, or replies to comments. (so behave all you commenters!)

But before I take off, I want to comment on the disgraceful display of support for Hezbollah that was on display in Toronto today. DISGUSTING! I have no problem with the calls for peace, ceasefires, or displays of support for Lebanon... but to proudly display the colours of a murderous terrorist organization is just about as UNCanadian as you can get. Toss them in the cooler for a few months, under our "hate crimes" legislation.

So, on that note, I threw together a new logo... feel free to display or improve upon...


Of course, with going away, I won't have time to finish my post on my Halifax trip from OVER A MONTH AGO... things just keep popping up. (still have it sitting in "DRAFT")

However, to join in the spirit of the morons who are waving Hezbollah flags on the streets, in our cities, I figued I'd post one photo from my trip. I got a chance to take a tour aboard the HMCS Halifax on Canada Day, and they had various displays up on deck from all branches of the Forces. So, here's how I really think we oughta deal with those Hezbollah supporters...

Yes indeed, you saw it here first...
Tories with guns. In our cities. I am not making this up.


DISCLAIMER: JUST KIDDING!!! RELAX!!! Any regular visitors who frequent this blog KNOW that I'm not a gun nut... I don't have one, likely won't ever have one, and haven't even fired one in my life. (unless you count discharging blanks from a 1776 replica flint-lock Brown Bess musket, but that was for re-enacting purposes... a real crowd pleaser) But posing for that pic was just too good an opportunity to pass up... that there is a Canadian Forces standard issue C7 Automatic Rifle... disabled, and with an empty clip, of course.

And again for the record, NO, I don't advocate executing Hezbollah supporters! (or Hezbolla militants, in fact) Believe it or not, I abhor violence... I see it as a LAST resort, NOT a first. I support Israel's present action in Lebanon because it's a last resort option... what else do you do about an unrelenting advesary who has vowed to destroy you, when no one else is willing to do anything about it?

Well, I guess that's all for now... see you in a week!

Out in the boonies for a bit

UPDATE: Posting moved and renamed to "Tories with guns... in our cities".

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Bush: 'Islamic fascists'

I've heard the term used over and over again in the Blogosphere, but I've NEVER heard any world leader use it in public... George W. Bush, in his press conference regarding the terror arrests in Britian, said of those who planned these attacks, "this nation is at war with Islamic fascists."

Glad to see that someone understands what's going on.

Some will say that US policies are responsible for all this, including 9/11. Those who say that forget that these attacks occured BEFORE any invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan... these terrorists are escalating the conflict by retaliating against the US response.

These radicals started it... do you expect the West to simply roll over and take it? Of course, the true Christian response would be just that... "turn the other cheek". Of course, there are no "Christian" nations on earth, so don't be surprised at the response. (No, America is NOT a "Christian" nation)

Qana Stage Manged by Hezbollah?

Starring, produced, and direct by, Mr. Green Helmet. No commentary from me... just take a look for yourself. (WARNING - Graphic image)

h/t Hot Air.

Okay, I changed my mind... I will comment. I realize that some people will think I'm cold and heartless by posting this, so I'll comment on why I posted it. The death and destruction in Qana was horrible, no doubt, but unfortunately, due to the tactics and practices of Hezbollah, not unexpected. That said, I have a major problem with Hezbollah using the corpse of a dead child as a mere prop for the sole purpose of discrediting Israel in the eyes of the world. I'm just really glad this got caught on tape.

The media is just another battleground that this war is being fought on... and unfortunately, Hezbollah is winning on this front. It's a shame that we in the West are so easily manipulated.

Upgrading the Toy

Just got a new Palm the other day... going from a Tungsten E to Tungsten E2. Only difference is that the E2 has Bluetooth, and is capable of using wireless, with an adapter card.


I figured it would take a couple of hours to move all my data and apps over to the new Palm. Didn't have time, so I was gonna have to wait a week before I could upgrade. Had it all plugged in and charged, and I said to myself, "I wonder what would happen if I tried to HotSync it..."

So I did. Wow. I mean, like, WOW. It syncronized alright... all my contacts, files, applications, preferences, EVERYTHING. Took less than THREE MINUTES to do the whole shootin match!

Man, it just shows you how used to Windows I am... I set aside a couple of DAYS to get everything right when I upgrade. I've always been a Windows fan, and I thought I'd want a Windows CE device over a Palm, but I must say, I'm REAL impressed by the Palm OS on this one! I may have just been converted!

Bi-Partisanship

??? I'm confused... the Liberals say that Mr. Harper is too partisan, then attack him (and their own MP's) when he extends an olive branch for a non-partisan project?

Can anyone help me figure this one out?

Also, the firestorm seems to be surrounding one Liberal MP... but what about Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Liberal MP for Etobicoke Centre? No one seems to have an issue with him! But the original CBC story names him as going on this non-partisan trip as well!!!


UPDATE: I missed this earlier... did you know that Khan was recently appointed as Joe Volpe's Ontario campaign chair? Nor did I. So, is this really about Khan taking on this post for Mr. Harper, or is this really about Liberal leadership candidates trying to score points?

UPDATE II: Did some follow-up on the leanings of Borys Wrzesnewskyj, and he is apparently on the Kennedy bandwagon, according to the Wikipedia Liberal Leadership Endorsement page. (Kennedy has openly critizied Harper's Mid-East position as "un-Canadian")

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Dalton to appeal Caledonia Ruling

Dalton is plannig to appeal Judge Marshall's ruling that the Rule of Law be re-established in Caledonia, according to the Globe & Mail.

You have got to be joking. But I find this quote disturbing... "Prime Minister Stephen Harper supports the province's position, Mr. Bryant said. Mr. Harper and Premier Dalton McGuinty discussed the matter in a telephone conversation late Tuesday." I will be making a few phone calls about this one.

Then there's this quote.
"We will make submissions that the rule of law has been complied with, that an independent police force has acted independently and sought to enforce the law and keep the peace," Mr. Bryant said. "We will argue that Crown prosecutions have operated independently, we will make the argument that orders of the court have been complied with."
I think burnt bridges, road blockages, damaged houses, intimidated residents, various assults, torched transformer stations, and a mob pelting an 89 year old man's house with rocks are a clear indication that THE RULE OF LAW IS NOT PRESENTLY IN FORCE.

Do I have THE answer to the situation? Nope... but allowing complete lawlessness to go unchallenged is certainly NOT the answer.

For the record... I expect all individuals who have broken the law to be held accountable when this is all over. There better not be any sort of blanket amnesty granted by these negotiations. Otherwise, I guess you could say that crime really does pay.


UPDATE: Was checking out Ottawa Core's blog, as I know he/she has been posting a lot of stuff related to all this. I saw these statements regarding a stalled wind turbine project in Ontario, and was troubled by them...
This apparently is one of several developments backed by the Ontario government. We say ”Thanks for the windmills”. Now we can sit down and talk about what we’re going to give you out of it, if we want to. The windmills are on our property. It’s ours! You’ll just have to keep your hands off them and talk to us about it.

They say they are confident the project will go ahead. They just don’t get it, do they? I’d like to see how they’d react if someone started building windmills in their back yard! They know that they belong to us now. They just want a piece of the action. So we’ll think about it. That’s what we’ll talk about.

They can’t seize anything on Indian territory, which is all of Canada. They should have made a deal with us beforehand. This Johnny-come-lately deal-making is not the proper way to do business with us.
It's statements like THIS that this conflict in Caledonia is really all about. "Indian territory is ALL OF CANADA". Guess I'm just going to have to pack up and head back the Britian where I came from. You see, I'm just an oppressive white man.

Now, I will say that Ontario Hydro should have consulted with them, even if the status of the land is in dispute. But to say that the nation of Canada has no right to exist, and to hold the entire nation hostage? THIS is why the Caledonia situation has to be resolved. I'm not saying that the natives don't have a valid claim, and that their grivances should be heard and dealt with... but to think that the entire nation, and everything in it, belongs to them? That's just way over the top.

Disgusting Support for Hezbollah

It is revolting that Canadians would stoop so low as to openly support a terrorist organization. Photos from a Quebec rally here.

I certainly think that the NDP, PQ, BQ and Liberal MP's that were there should come out and publicly condemn the rampant display of hatred that was on show there. I mean, Hezbollah FLAGS? Bloodied Isreali flags with dead Jews on them? COME ON!!!

Those political parties sponsored the meeting, and things got out of hand. But think about it... had the Tories organized a protest on any issue, and it got hijacked like this, you can bet the media would have a field day with it. Why has the media not gotten all over this?

Do I think the other parties will apologize? Nope, not likely.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Israel... going the extra mile

To those who have attacked Israel's methods of late... Israel goes out of it's way to avoid civilian casualties. (from the National Post)

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Dinner with the Minister

Totally cool... I picked up my wife after her concert, then headed to their season end party for the Elora Festival Singers. (she's an Alto) And who do I find there? The Honourable Michael D. Chong... President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Minister for Sport. Makes sense... Parliament is out, and we're in his riding. He was also there to present a letter of thanks from the Prime Minister to a member of their Board who was retiring.

Went and introduced myself, but only chatted for a couple of minutes. I didn't want to bombard the guy on his vacation! Anyway, listened into a conversation he was having with a consituant, upset with the Government's stand on Childcare. He made some really good points about how the different levels of government interact on this issue (he is the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, after all) and what the Federal government is doing about it... and these answers really seemed to put her concerns to ease. I also took the opportunity to pass on my thanks for the current government's stand on the crisis in the Middle East.

It was a nice addition to my long weekend. Man, I am ever a junkie...

Saturday, August 05, 2006

CBC inventing CPC positions for us

I've talked about CBC's bias before, but this is ridiculous.

The CBC clearly took comments made by Mr. Harper, and spliced them together to make it look like he brushing off some Lebanese protesters, when in fact he was talking about polling numbers!

The CBC totally made it look like Mr. Harper could care less about the protesters outside and just blew them off. Yet CTV's coverage of the very same press conference shows the full context of the question and answers, including the fact that the Tories invited two of the protesters in to meet with Peter MacKay, because they wanted to ensure that their concerns were heard!

Remember everybody getting hot under the collar when Mr. Grewal was accused of splicing tape? (which proved to be a false accusation, by the way) Now that the CBC has been caught? What's going to happen? Oof course, all this is going to fly under the radar, but the damage has been done. Then again, it will only have been seen by viewers of CBC's newscasts... they're mostly Libs and Dippers anyway, right? (you know, preaching to the choir and all...)

Thanks to Stephen Taylor for posting that video clip. And I love the little splice of his own he inserts into the end of the tape...

WHITE BACKGROUND WITH TEXT QUESTION: "So Mr. Harper, what do you think about the CBC manipulating your words and taking them out of context?"

Cut to video of Harper: "Very predictable"


UPDATE: Seems that National Post media analyst Warren Kinsella, of former Liberal fame, agrees with Stephen Taylor and my view of the CBC story. Funny that... and he's a Liberal supporter to boot. Even he can see it.

Friday, August 04, 2006

The MSM and Condi

I'm sorry, but there's no way that Condi is THAT unphotogenic. The MSM must TRY REALLY HARD to continually find the worst photos possible of her to post! Seriously! You NEVER see a good photo of her in print! Then there's the photoshopped one last year, you know, with the demon looking eyes? How's this one for you?

Courtesy (if you can say that) of the Washington Post.

Liberal power couple make the switch

Call me partisan, I don't care... but THIS IS HUGE.

Say whatever you want, but I think this is a MAJOR COUP. I'm sorry, but a policy wonk, a former NATIONAL LIBERAL PARTY POLICY CHAIRPERSON at that, doesn't make a switch like that willy-nilly. Policy wonks have an ideological bent, and they stick with it... they are the ones that are nearly impossible to get to change their minds. It would be like Stephen Harper, again, a policy wonk, making the switch to the Liberals a few years back! (before he was Party leader)

Here's some of the article from the Globe & Mail...
OTTAWA — Liberal power couple Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz have publicly broken with the Liberal Party line on the Middle East crisis and are turning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper because of his support of Israel.

Mr. Schwartz's wife, Ms. Reisman, says she is leaving the party to support the Conservatives under Stephen Harper.

In an e-mail to friends, Ms. Reisman applauded film producer Robert Lantos's statement at a weekend rally that he would "hereby take off [his] life-long federal Liberal hat."

"I [am] right there alongside Robert. . . . after a lifetime of being a Liberal, I have made the switch," Ms. Reisman wrote. "Feels strange, but totally and unequivocally right."

A recipient of the e-mail confirmed that Ms. Reisman, who was the Liberal Party of Canada's policy chairwoman in the 1980s and who worked for Pierre Trudeau in his first election in 1965, had sent the e-mail to several friends, and that she has told others the same thing.

"She has told her friends in person and in e-mails that she is supporting the Conservatives under Stephen Harper this time," a close friend said yesterday. "She thinks that his position on the Lebanon issue is the right one."
To add insult to injury, add to that the loss of a major financial backer? (at a time when the Liberals are hurting financially, no less?) Check out these numbers donated to the Liberals! (jDave, you'll be glad to know that I was careful to check across ALL PARTIES this time!)
2005 - $2,000
2004 - $1,412
2003 - $2,847.98
2002 - Interesting... $7,672.53 to the Liberals, but $10,000 to Canadian Alliance! (was he starting to think about supporting the new horse?)
2001 - $914.50
2000 - $7,819.00 (plus $3,000 to Monte, then a CRCA candidate)
1999 - $32,248.00
1998 - $10,316.00 (plus $2500.00 to the PC's)
1997 - $44,800.00 ($5000 to JC and $5000 to PM... talk about fence sitting...LOL)
1996 - $37,676.00 (plus $3,875.00 to the PC's)
1995 - $12,744.00 (plus $4104 to the PC's)
1994 - $7,274.00
1993 - $6,699.00

TOTALS OVER LAST 13 YEARS: CA - $13,000, PC's - $10,479, and the Liberals...$174,422.92!!!
If you don't think that's a black eye, I don't know what is! Of course, now with the $1,000 limit (if the Liberal Senate stops stalling it) it will prevent him from the same kind of numbers, but my point here is that he's been a MAJOR backer for the last 13 years... to lose someone who has given so much to your party has got to hurt! And with that kind of financial influence, don't you think he might just carry other forms of influence within the ranks of the Party?

Personally, this ranks higher in collateral damage than having an MP cross the floor... and MP crossing may be more high profile in the press, but to have a major policy wonk and financial backer walk away, that's a major blow.

It will be interesting to see how this is played out in the MSM and the blogosphere.

h/t to Dust My Broom

Reader contribuion on "Iggy"

I've read some Liberals talking about the pros and cons of various leadership candidates, just to keep an eye on the race. (and, of course, archiving any juciy shots for the next election... why bother coming up with my own material when there's an abundance out there provided by Libs?)

Some say a sports star like Dryden would be a good draw with sports fans, saying that brainiacs like Iggy and Rae don't appeal to the common man. So, by dear friend/nemesis Blake, a regular contributer to the comments section here, came up with this little gem of satire...
Local Man Disappointed To Find Out Andre Igoudala Not In Liberal Leadership Race
by Blake - aka "The Russian"

Dale Thomas, a 25 year old Burlington heavy truck mechanic, was extremely disappointed to find out that Philadelphia 76ers guard Andre Igoudala was not campaigning to become the next leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

"I kept hearing talk about "Iggy" becoming the next leader," said Thomas, who said he was captivated by Igoudala in the 2006 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, in which he was a runner-up. "And I immediately thought of Andre Igoudala, and I was really excited. That guy can really elevate and throw down some totally wicked dunks, and I figured a lot of people would get totally hyped by him. Then I found out this "Iggy" is some sort of Harvard prof, or something. Now I'm all bored again."

Thomas was not alone in his reaction among local Liberals.

"Yeah, I really don't see how Ignatieff is going to excite anybody," said Helen Winters, an Oakville lawyer and long-time Liberal supporter, and admitted Ignatieff booster. "The most exciting thing about him is his nickname, "Iggy", and as we've seen, he even loses that battle in popularity to an NBA player. It's even worse for us, because a lot of Toronto Raptor fans are really familiar with Igoudala because they assumed Rob Babcock wasn't a total moron and would draft him instead of Rafael Araujo in 2004. They were wrong, of course, but they still have thoughts of "Iggy" playing in a Raptors uniform. So whenever I talk about "Iggy", people automatically get excited about his performance in the Slam Dunk contest. And when I correct them, they get really angry and say, "A politician?!? He's not exciting at all!" And they're right, of course, and I usually don't have much of a comeback for that."

Ignatieff, for his part, insists that he will eventually captivate the public.

"Come on, I've got a Ph.D. in philosophy," he said. "What isn't exciting about that? Plus, I keep talking about moving the Liberal party more to the centre-left of the spectrum. If slight changes in ideological principles don't excite people, what will? Sure, I may never have the machismo and charisma of a Stephen Harper, but I'm still confident that people will rally in droves to my leadership. I'm that interesting, really."

Disclaimer

Dalton muzzles the media?

Apparently, Caledonia Wakeup Call is becoming quite a headache for Dalton McGuinty's Liberal government. CHTV in Hamilton ran with one of their stories, about an apparent leak from within his staff regarding Caledonia.

It seems that Mr. McGuinty, et. al., "are not amused".
"We talked to the producer of CHTV Live @ 5:30 today to try to respond to Mr. Ramsay's Press Release regarding the leaked Liberal plan. We wanted to see whether CHTV would do an interview with us and Mr. Ramsay.
First, the producer laughed and said that isn't going to happen anytime soon. He then proceeded to tell me that Mr. Chris Morley of Premier McGuinty's office called him today because they were angry that CHTV ran the story.

I was told that the message from the Premier's office that they would not be getting any more interviews from the government. (...)

I then told Mr. Morley what the producer had told me about his impression that CHTV was being punished for airing the story and I wanted to give him a chance to clear up any misunderstanding before running my story. "No comment" were his words. I reworded my question and he replied his "No comment" statement and said this conversation is over.
Here's the part that I'm most interested in, however...
We all remember how the media got all upset by Harper trying to control their questioning of him. Now let's see the Media's response to a Liberal Government that is willing to punish any media outlet for running stories they don't like.

Not only is McGuinty trying to control information that goes to the media, every political party does that, but he is willing to punish media who run stories that make the Liberals look bad.

Let's sit back and see the outrage of our Media and see whether the Liberals will get the same nation wide coverage for their punishment of CHTV as they gave the Conservatives for trying to control the order of questions."
Is the media two faced? I guess we'll see.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Warren in today's Post

Did I mention that I really like the guy?

Good thoughts on Israel.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

ACLU and banning crosses

Forwarded to me by a friend... funny.
Did you see in the news last week where the A.C.L.U. doesn't want any crosses on Federal property?

Crosses on Federal Property?

Well duh.........

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Well said Peter MacKay

Peter MacKay made some good statements as he weathered the Opposition's barage in committee today.
The minister was asked several times why Canada won’t call for an immediate ceasefire to which MacKay responded there is no point in calling for a ceasefire unless there is a plan for lasting peace to back it up.

“Simply mouthing the words ceasefire, is not going to make it happen. A ceasefire cannot occur with only one party participating in a ceasefire,” he said, adding Hezbollah has made no efforts to enter talks and appears to be the only party that wants the violence to continue.

He called the group, which is listed by Canada as a terrorist organization, a “cancer on Lebanon.”


MacKay reiterated the government’s position of siding with Israel in the conflict but also said it has joined the international community in asking Israel to exercise the “utmost restraint” in its strikes on Lebanon in order to avoid civilian deaths and injuries.

“Lebanon and Israel have suffered enough,” he told the committee. “The killing has to stop.”


UPDATE: LOL! Gotta love MacKay... here's another exchange from that meeting...
In a testy exchange with Liberal MP Dan McTeague, MacKay defended his own handling of the crisis, particularly when it first began.

"Where were you for the first four days of this crisis?" McTeague asked, referring to MacKay's initial lack of visibility.

"I was on the job," MacKay shot back. "You may have been on TV, but I was meeting with officials."
Via CBC. h/t to Alberta Tory.

U-Haul woes

I was driving a U-Haul truck from Halifax to Toronto for a friend of mine last month while he was away on his honeymoon. When we hit the Quebec/Ontario border, we got pulled over by the MTO for a mandatory inspection.

The truck failed inspection, because a plug in the rear tire was leaking. A plug in the sidewall of the tire, no less. (the inspector, and the independant repair guy, both said "You just don't plug a sidewall... with the constant flex on sidewall of the tire, the plug can't hold properly."

I had to use my cell phone to get the required assistance. I spent $13.00 in airtime. They are refusing to refund this amount. However, there is one detail they seem to have overlooked... this is a result of deliberate choice to cheapen out on a repair. The tire should have been replaced... they tried to patch it instead, in an inherantly unsafe manner. (the inspector said "If this plug had let go while you were on the 401... yikes.")

To quote a line from "the American President" when referring to someone's FBI file, "but this file's got art." I got art. Detailed photo records, showing the shoddy repair, and identifying the truck in question.

Note to any U-Haul staff reading this... I am awaiting a response to my present inquiries before I post them. It's your move.