True North

Transitions

2005-06-14T10:16:00.000-05:00

The times they are indeed achanging. This post marks the end of True North as we know it for at least the next several months. My first post to this blog was two weeks short of a year ago and much has happened since then. From a personal perspective, most of it has been good.

However, circumstances change and, like it or not. we have to do so as well. I knew from the beginning that time was going to be an issue. There have been many occasions when there simply hasn't been time to post at all much less to write posts of the quality I wanted to write. It's interesting how even something like a little blog makes you feel obligated. After all, if people were going to bother coming here, I felt an obligation to have something new for them on a regular basis.

That last sentence holds the key to my decision. First, to grow a blog requires regular posting. It is generally accepted that that means at least two or three posts a week of something more than the "me too" variety and it usually means posting on a daily basis. The second key element is the feeling of obligation. That is just as hard to handle because, once you start feeling you have to do something, it usually stops being enjoyable. Waking up in the morning and saying "Oh shit I have to post something today" is likely a pretty good indicator that it isn't fun anymore.

My business requires 70 to 80 hour weeks from April to June and is only slightly less intense from July to October. Part of that is simply the work of living in the country - something you may have guessed I'm not planning to give up anytime soon (as in ever). In practical terms it means essentially shutting the blog down every spring and trying to reactivate it every fall. That is a situation that is not going to change as long as I live here and work at what I do.

Earlier this spring I had considered pulling the plug completely knowing the cycle I was dealing with. Instead I opted to keep it alive. At the time I said :

This will also give me an opportunity to consider different options for the future. Some of the options I'm looking at are:
1) Continuing to do the same kind of broad based advocacy I have been doing here. This despite increasingly questioning its value and an increasing reluctance to make open ended commitments of significant resources to projects which may or may not produce some vague, unspecified results at some nebulous future time.
2) Narrowing the focus so that I can concentrate on doing more, better posts on fewer subjects.
3) Not blogging at all and focusing on local issues where I can produce more tangible, timely results some time before the crows turn white.
4) Resigning from the position of being 'my brother's keeper' on the grounds that I have had the position quite long enough and it's time to concentrate on things that directly benefit me and mine.

I'm sure the correct option will reveal itself in due time.

It turns out the correct option is none of the above. For the last few weeks I have been talking with other progressive bloggers who are having the same problems. At some point in our blogging careers, all of us have encountered problems juggling work/business demands, family commitments, a desire for a life off the internet and blogging. The end result of this juggling act has been burnouts, reduced posting and consideration of temporary and/or permanent blog closures.

For the last few of weeks, we have been discussing these problems and potential solutions. We have decided that, at least on a temporary basis, the best solution for all of us is a group blog. I will be joining Timmy from Voice in the Wilderness and Jonathan from No More Shall I Roam in a group blog with pogge over at Pogge.ca. We are looking on this as an experimental venture for the next several months and will be keeping our current blogs intact for archival purposes while we work toward making the group blog a permanent situation.

This arrangement has blogging advantages. We know we can work together having done so on previous projects. While also sharing a similar world view for the most part, we approach things in different ways and have different interests. We are hoping that working together will help make us better at what we do.

Even more importantly, this arrangement has personal advantages. We hope that working together will reduce the pressure on each of us and allow us to get back to the enjoyment of blogging while still juggling the rest of our lives.

True North is not going to disappear. I will cross post enough to keep it alive for it's archival value - there are still a lot of search engine hits on items like NAWAPA and BSE. I don't know what the long term future holds for it. Who knows, by fall it might be a gardening blog. Whatever happens, True North will always be important to me. I have written since high school but I had gotten away from it over the last ten years. Starting this blog reminded me of how much I enjoy writing and for that reason it will always be a fond memory.

I know I have occasionally infuriated people by calling things the way I see them (after all Steve Gilliard is my blogfather) but I hope I have also occasionally entertained and educated you as well. There is nothing that will change about my style. It will just be found at a different spot on the dial.

See you around.

Harper: "Please Beat Me Some More"

2005-06-13T09:26:00.000-05:00

Or at least I hope that Stevie Wonder Wanker and the rest of the SCRAC high command are heavy into masochism after yet another whipping of their sorry asses by the Canadian public in the latest round of opinion polls.

The Dithers led Kloset Konservatives, scandals and all, are up in the polls again with a 12 point swing in the national numbers. The KK leads in Ontario with 48% support leading the NDP at 24% and SCRAC at 22%. SCRAC has only 9% support in the three largest urban areas trailing both the KK and the NDP. You don't even have the proverbial snowball's chance in hell of winning a federal election in this country if you are beaten in Ontario as a whole and wiped out in Quebec and the large urban areas. Seems it might be time for SCRAC to unload those Republican party consultants.

And that was the good news. If the story is bad for the party, it's even worse for Harper himself. Unlike the mythical King Midas whose touch turned everything to gold, Harper seems to have perfected the Sadim touch - every thing he touches turns to shit.

Harper not only has the rest of the country giving him the bum's rush but his own are now turning on him too. Stevie Stupid Wonder Wanker decided he just had to force a spring election even though the overwhelming majority of Canadians and many in his own caucus didn't want one.

In the course of trying to force an election, Harper managed to make a total ass of himself by somehow managing to look even more desperate to gain power than Martin was to hold on to it. That rather impressive feat seems to have been too brutal for even the party's core supporters to watch. Support for Harper's leadership is dropping faster than a dud Roman Candle. Even in the Prairies, head office for Wing Nuts 'R' Us, support for Dear Leader Jr. has dropped from 63% to 44% in a matter of weeks and among hard core SCRACheads it dropped from 92% to 79%.

And, if being Stephen Harper didn't already suck badly enough, it gets even worse. Right wing talk radio host, Charles Adler, in a column in Saturday's Winnipeg Free Press not only calls uniting the right a bigger hoax than Y2K, concedes defeat in the next election, suggests changing the party's acronym from CPC to STD, but also proposes the dissolution of SCRAC and the reformation of the Reform Party although not quite in those words.

Unfortunately, that column is behind the Free Press subscription wall. Have I mentioned how much I hate the Free Press's anal online policy? Have I mentioned how much I like my old Textbridge OCR software? It seems that, every three or four months, I get to do a free advertisement for the Free Press on this blog by publishing an article they have hidden from public view to show you that, contrary to widely held opinion, the FP is not a total waste of trees and that, even though the days of the outhouse are gone, there is still a reason to subscribe to the paper. Please support this ad campaign by subscribing today - or, at least, tomorrow.

Unite the Right Was a Bigger Hoax Than Y2K
Charles Adler/ Winnipeg Free Press

Will someone please stop polling! Grassroots Conservatives get the message.

Ontario doesn't want western-style conservatism anywhere near the prime minster's office. Western Conservatives are allowed on the property, but not the porch, and certainly not inside the bedrooms of the national government. It's OK for the prime minister to be sleeping with the NDP. But the Conservatives, now known as the CPC, might as well trade in that acronym for STD. It is unwanted.

Westerners may be stubborn, but they get it - the only way for them to be part of the national government is to have a leader who makes at least 40 per cent of Ontarians comfortable.

Ontario voters willing to vote for a Conservative want Bill Davis. Not Mike Harris. Not Ralph Klein. And certainly not Stephen Harper. Never mind that he's from Ontario.

Western Conservatives have received the message from Ipsos Reid, Environics, Decima, and a herd of media pundits. Either the Conservatives find a leader who is willing to be a Liberal in everything but name, or they need not have expectations of victory.

One could argue that westerners are overreacting to the bad polls and the media advice. After all, Harper nearly became prime minister a year ago.

But the truth is the truth. Paul Martin, who in last year's election campaign was given the last rites more often than a dying pope, climbed out of the casket. In recent weeks, he did it again. Yes, Belinda helped. But if she had decided to stay in the potato patch with Peter, we know that Goofy Gurmant and the wife he treats like a sidecar would have rolled into Paul's parking lot and given the PM the votes be he needed to snooker Harper. And if Goofy had been given his Liberal loot bag in return for betraying his party, Harper would not have looked as bad he did by being jilted by Magnababe.

If Goofy and the sidecar had gone to the libs, Harper would not have directed this low-rent passion play for a guy who may have lied his way into Canada, tape recorded his way into the Political Funny Farm, and frightened Air Canada passengers with that goofiest of phrases, "Can you please take my package?" Do western Conservatives really have trouble understanding why Air Harper and its subsidiary, Air Goofy, don't fly in Ontario?

Never mind the facts. Western Conservatives feel rejected and humiliated by the pollsters, the pundits and that acronym which fills the blogosphere, MSM (mainstream media). Once you feel that these powerful forces have been aligned against you, what do you do?

Should western Conservatives continue to participate in a process that they feel is rigged? Or should they go back home? The old hacienda of the Reform/Alliance was more comfortable for western Conservatives. They didn't have to prune their branches every day. They weren't as self-conscious. They weren't expecting the CBC, Toronto Star and Globe and Mail to like them and they didn't much care. Now many feel that they are wearing shoes that pinch and pants that are bursting their zippers. And the Central Canadian establishment still doesn't love them.

Would anyone be surprised if after the coming defeat, western Conservatives say, "We're tired of pretending that every day is Halloween. Let's get out of these stupid clothes and do what comes naturally. The Bloc Québecois guys don't pretend to be federalists. Layton's boys don't pretend to be right wingers. Why should we keep pretend that we are a bunch of panty-waist moderates? If we can't be honest about who we are, what's the damn point?"

Is there an advantage to westerners becoming a bloc party? You bet your sweet bippy! Paul Martin is willing to yield on policy to any party that is not threatening to replace him. If you want Paul Martin to give you stuff, just ask for it. Just don't tell him you will defeat him in the next election. When Paul Martin and Jack Layton shared the same hotel key at the Royal York, Jack never threatened to eat Paul's lunch. He just asked the prime minister to give him part of yours.

Do you want western Conservatives to form their own party and give up what many think of as a charade? Do you believe Unite the Right has been a bigger hoax than Y2K?

I'm no fan of Adler's politics but there are times when I really do appreciate his writing. In this case his conclusions are pretty hard to argue with. The fallout from adscam has pretty much peaked and receded unless the final report results in Paulie and several members of the cabinet being dragged away in irons. Belinda's decision to leave Peter's potato patch hurt in places where SCRAC couldn't afford to be hurt and secret agent double-O dud's flame out in his audio engineering sideline also hurt. If Harper and SCRAC couldn't win public support under recently past conditions, it isn't likely to happen before the crows turn white.

Politics makes for strange bedfellows at any time. The apparently imminent chance to win in politics makes for even stranger bedfellows. The Bush party in the Excited States is in danger of coming apart at the seams as real Republicans try to wrest power back from the wing nuts and religious extremists. The American Taliban are also threatening to leave unless the keys to the party are turned over to them.

The unholy marriage of the Progressive Conservative party and the Social Credit Reform Alliance party didn't make much sense in the first place. It was an opportunistic circular firing squad type of arrangement forged by two groups of perennial lusers desperate to change their circumstances. It always more closely resembled a case of the last two drunks left in the bar at closing time going home together because they both knew they weren't going to do any better than it did a real partnership. Throwing the Canadian Taliban into the mix only made it worse. All these diverse factions could tolerate each other as long as there was a chance of winning. As soon as that goes, it's man the lifeboats and every man for himself.

This 'can't win for losing' cabal of clowns have managed to make The Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight look like expert marksmen. They truly are miracle workers - they managed to make Paul Martin look good and David Orchard look smart. The real irony of it is that, if Peter McKay hadn't been in such a rush to sell out his own party, there is a chance he could actually be living at 24 Sussex Drive today given the Canadian public's lack of enthusiasm last June for both Martin and Harper. And maybe even with Belinda. After the SCRAC balloon bursts, young Peter, sadder but wiser, is likely to have a lot of time to spend walking the dog and digging potatoes.

The Many Faces of Evil

2005-06-08T16:21:00.000-05:00

Continuing with the 'Lusers' theme that currently seems to be developing, this site has posted a rogue's gallery, complete with quotes, of the leaders of the American Taliban. It seems about time for someone to start a similar project with our own Canadian Taliban. There are plenty of candidates here for the list but you might want to start with this asshole.

Police investigating Christian activist for hate crimes
Two thousand leaflets attacking gays and lesbians have put a Christian activist in western Canada under investigation by Edmonton police for hate crimes.

The flyers by Bill Whatcott of Regina refer to gay marriage as "sodomite marriage" and use graphic language to describe the alleged sex practices of homosexuals...

Whatcott has led protests across Saskatchewan and Alberta against abortion and gays.

He says he was a gay prostitute until age 18 to pay for a drug habit, then became leader of a small group called the Christian Truth Activists.

Last month, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal fined Whatcott $17,500 for handing out similar material.

But he has refused to pay the fine, calling the tribunal a "kangaroo court."

"Once there was a time when all people believed in God and the church ruled. This time is called the Dark Ages."

Voltaire had it right a couple of hundred years ago when he said "The world will never truly be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."

Even though I live in what used to be the wild west, the authorities seem to frown on putting up "Wanted" posters. With this bunch, I wonder how they feel about us putting up "Unwanted" posters.

Update: Forgot the acknowlegment. The guys at Needlenose were some of the earliest supporters of this blog. Thanks to fubar for the link.

Note to Gurmant Grewal

2005-06-08T16:07:00.000-05:00

While we're on the subject of lusers:

Dear Gurmant:

When your wife is busy trying to put 40 miles and a flooded river between herself and your efforts to buy a better deal for both of you, you're screwed buddy.

After more than two weeks of silence, Tory MP Nina Grewal says she had nothing to do with secret talks between her husband and senior Liberals concerning patronage plums in return for helping the government win a crucial vote.

When your constituents believe the Liberal version of the story over yours by 3 to 2, its time to start brushing off the old resume because you will soon be looking for a new job and it ain't gonna be a cabinet post, an ambassadorship or a senate appointment.

The response was even less favourable for Mr. Grewal with a pair of key groups: respondents who followed the issue closely, and those in Mr. Grewal's home province of British Columbia.

Among those who said they followed the taping affair closely, 32 per cent said they believed the Liberals and 27 per cent said they believed Mr. Grewal.

In B.C., it was 33 per cent for the Liberals and 21 per cent for Mr. Grewal.

PS: I suggest you leave "audio engineer" off your list of recent employment. I don't think you're going to be getting too many offers in that line of work either.

Luser!

2005-06-08T15:58:00.000-05:00

I have to admit I have never heard of a weekly paper called the Vancouver Republic before. But they may have picked up a new reader after this column by Kevin Potvin outlining in bone crunching detail what an utter moron Peter McKay is.

Peter, you have got to be the biggest idiot this country ever produced. There you were, tossing her giggling children on your knee, reclining without a care on her father’s couch with him after supper, comfortably showing affection to her in public, and probably just a few more months of continuing good behavior away from marrying into Belinda Stronach’s billions. That’s “billions,” as in world-league wealth and power. You were that close!

Stronach is no blonde dipstick, as your frat-boy pals in Alberta characterized her after you blew it. She has more power than all of them combined—more even than any mere Prime Minister. She is the former CEO of the largest auto-parts company on the planet. No daddy’s girl, she was named by Fortune 500 two years ago as the second most powerful woman in the world. That’s “in the world.”

Best article on the subject I've seen.

And a hat tip for the commentor at From the Heartland for the tip.

Say What?

2005-06-08T11:49:00.000-05:00

Canadian Cynic's response to this news article is to suggest that you can actually have too many firearms. I must respectfully disagree.

You see our friend CC describes himself as an "unarmed (but reality-based) Canadian". I, on the other hand, am a gun toting, meat eating (but reality based) Canadian progressive. Personally, I think the extra firepower might be useful in the event that we are ever invaded by the Protest Warriors.

The only problem with stashing that much hardware is that I might have to recruit the assistance of Ol' JimBobby to help dig up half an acre of the back 40. And we all know how he likes to talk - especially once he gets into your whiskey.

G'day Eh

2005-06-08T11:27:00.000-05:00

Greetings to those much abused and neglected faithful few who continue to show up. I think I have just set a record for not posting and that is not a great accomplishment. There will be a major item in the near future that you probably won't want to miss. In the meantime, it is raining today, has been for the last two weeks and will be for the next week. It's too wet to plow and I can't dance so I might as well use up some of this supply of snark lying around the office that is getting close to it's "best before" date. So expect a number of short shots in the next day or two.

The Grewal Tapes

2005-05-24T16:58:00.000-05:00

In case you have forgotten this post of mine several months ago, Gurmant Grewal, who is claiming the Liberals tried to buy his vote on the budget, is the same SCRAC MP who had the well known right wing nut case (and Bill O'Reilly's favourite Canadian) Rachel Marsden working in his office under an assumed name until the SCRAC head office went ballistic on him and insisted she be fired. So, Stevie Stupid Wonder Wanker, are you sure you really want to buy a used allegation from this guy?

An Open Letter

2005-05-24T16:27:00.000-05:00

Dear Intelligent Designer(s):

My friend Canadian Cynic assures me there are many people here who believe in your existence. It, therefore, seems appropriate for me to contact you directly with my concerns.

I would greatly appreciate it if you would provide me, in writing if you don't mind, the Intelligent Design rationale behind mosquitoes and wood ticks. And, since I'm imposing, please add to the list black flies, poison ivy, skunks and the Conservative Party of Canada (to the extent the latter two are not the same). The existence of these organisms forces me to question your intelligence and/or whether you ever really graduated from design school as claimed.

I feel I must also point out a significant error in your design parameters. Having any two of the above in season at the same time - for example wood ticks and poison ivy - is an elegant sufficiency. Adding a third is completely unnecessary and totally unacceptable - except for the Conservative Party of Canada which is completely unnecessary and totally unacceptable at any time.

Designing this planet was a rather complex project and should not have been assigned to anyone who did not graduate from Design school in the top 10% of the class and possess significant experience in completing less challenging projects. I am requesting this entire project be turned over to the Supreme Council of Intelligent Designers (for surely there must be such an entity) for a review. At a very minimum the above noted design errors must be rectified at your earliest convenience and consideration should be given to replacing the current Designer with one better qualified for the position.

I would appreciate your prompt attention to these matters.

Yours intelligently,
mahigan

Belinda Bolts

2005-05-17T14:09:00.000-05:00

Well this should be the talk of the blogosphere - not to mention the MSM - for the next several days. Timmy has a post with some conservative reaction at Voice in the Wilderness and Pogge weighs in here. I really doubt that anyone saw this coming although Stevie Depressed Wonder Wanker says he did.

While no one saw it coming, I don't see any reason why anyone should be surprised. Stronach is not now nor has she ever been a SCRAChead. Belinda is a Red Tory and made that quite clear in her SCRAC leadership campaign. And since the demise of the PC Party and Martin's take over of the Liberals, the Liberals are the Red Tory Party in this country.

Stronach blew any leadership chance she had at the time - or any time in the foreseeable future - when she made her speech announcing her candidacy for the SCRAC leadership. Saying that you are pro-choice and believe that same sex marriage is a human rights issue will get you nowhere in the reactionary SCRAC. It has been clear to me from the beginning that Stronach would have been a happier camper in the ~~Red Tory~~ Liberal party than in SCRAC.

What this raises is an interesting possibility of even more defections. Stronach is not the only Red Tory MP in the SCRAC caucus. There are others, and I think that includes some well known faces like Chuck Strahl and the rest who bailed on the Alliance to sit with the PCs, who may be less than comfortable with the orientation of Harper and the fright wing of the party. Is Stronach's defection going to pave the way for still others?

Better buy some more popcorn and beer and stay tuned.

And the Ethics Award Goes to...

2005-05-16T21:44:00.000-05:00

Timmy at Voice in the Wilderness had a post on the new level of esteem in which the NDP is being held these days. It seems that high opinion is much more widespread than the blogosphere. I just checked my email and found a note from SES Research (I'm on the mailing list) on a new SES/Sun Media Poll that shows federal New Democrats score highest on ethics among political parties.

A new SES/Sun Media poll indicates that Canadians were more likely to identify the NDP as the federal party which was more ethical (+17.9) than the Liberal Party of Canada. This view cut across all regions.

The Green Party had the second highest net ethical score (+10.1) followed by the Conservatives (+8.5) and the Bloc Quebecois (-13.7). The BQ were the only party to receive a national net negative ethical score compared to the Liberals. In Quebec, owever, the BQ ethical score was +18.4.

"The only party with the clear advantage on the ethics issue is the federal NDP", according to SES Research President, Nikita Nanos...

The "net national ethics score" is based on the difference between the "more ethical" and the "less ethical" responses.

Here are the scores by party:

The NDP (N=1,000)
More ethical than Liberals - 34.4%
Same - 35.2%
Less ethical than Liberals - 16.5%
Unsure - 13.9%
Net national ethics score (+17.9)
*Score is positive in all regions

The Green Party (N=1,000)
More ethical than Liberals - 26.3%
Same - 25.8%
Less ethical than Liberals - 16.2%
Unsure - 31.7%
Net national ethics score (+10.1)
*Best region - West (+19.4)

The Conservative Party (N=1,000)
More ethical than Liberals - 28.1%
Same - 39.9%
Less ethical than Liberals - 19.6%
Unsure - 12.4%
Net national ethics score (+8.5)
*Best region - West (+22.6)

The BQ (N=1,000)
More ethical than Liberals - 18.2%
Same - 28.9%
Less ethical than Liberals - 31.9%
Unsure - 21.0%
Net national ethics score (-13.7)
*Best region - Quebec (+18.4)

It seems that a broad spectrum of Canadian voters are less than impressed by the goings on in the Common House. It sure is adding insult to injury when the relatively unknown Green Party manages to beat SCRAC in the ethics department. Somebody should up Stevie's meds. Foaming at the mouth doesn't seem to be endearing him to Canadians.

Mouseland

2005-05-15T15:55:00.000-05:00

I'm sure I have posted this before but, with an election apparently imminent, it seems timely to post it again. In fact I may post it once a week until after the next election. I especially recommend it to those poor misguided folks who have been conned into believing that voting for Stevie Wonder Wanker and SCRAC is somehow going to make a difference.

The Story of Mouseland

It's the story of a place called Mouseland. Mouseland was a place where all the little mice lived and played, were born and died. And they lived much the same as you and I do.

They even had a parliament. And every four years the had an election. Used to walk to the polls and cast their ballots. Some of them even got a ride to the polls. And got a ride for the next four years afterwards too. Just like you and me. And every time on election day all the little mice used to go to the ballot box and they used to elect a government. A government made up of big, fat, black cats.

Now if you think it strange that mice should elect a government made up of cats, you just look at the history of Canada for the last 90 years and maybe you'll see that they weren't any stupider then we are.

Now I'm not saying anything against the cats. They were nice fellows. They conducted their government with dignity. They passed good laws -- that is, laws that were good for cats. But the laws that were good for cats weren't very good for mice. One of the laws said that mouse holes had to be big enough so a cat could get his paw in. Another law said that mice could only travel at certain speeds -- so that a cat could get his breakfast without too much effort.

All the laws were good laws. For cats. But, oh, they were hard on the mice. And life was getting harder and harder. And when the mice couldn't put up with it any more, they decided that something had to be done about it. So they went en masse to the polls. They voted the black cats out. They put in the white cats.

Now the white cats had put up a terrific campaign. They said: "All that Mouseland needs is more vision." They said: "The trouble with Mouseland is those round mouse holes we got. If you put us in we'll establish square mouse holes." And they did. And the square mouse holes were twice as big as the round mouse holes, and now the cat could get both paws in. And life was tougher then ever.

And when they couldn't take that anymore, they voted the white cats out and put the black one's in again. Then they went back to the white cats. Then to the black cats. They even tried half black and half white cats. And they called that coalition. They even got one government made up of cats with spots on them: they were cats that tried to make a noise like a mouse but ate like a cat.

You see, my friends, the trouble wasn't with the colour of the cat. The trouble was that they were cats. And because they were cats, they naturally looked after cats instead of mice.

Presently there came along one little mouse who had an idea. My friends, watch out for the little fellow with an idea. And he said to the other mice, "Look fellows, why do we keep electing a government made up of cats? Why don't we elect a government made up of mice?" "OH," they said, "he's a Bolshevik. Lock him up!" So they put him in jail.

But I want to remind you: That you can lock up a mouse or a man but you can't lock up an idea.

--Tommy Douglas, 1944

The proverbial cats have gotten wiser and fatter, hired new spin-doctors and reverted to some old ways.

They have declared that enlarged mouse holes are the wave of the future. Too many mice have been cheating—holding back or hiding. We make the mice more self-reliant and vigorous if more cat paws are scratching their otherwise lazy behinds. Implementing programs using politically correct vocabulary — "opportunity" "skill sets" "retooling," "life style enhancement," we open up the mouse colony to all comers.

When the dust settles, these inspired initiatives add up to more wounded bodies and frightened rodents. Any mice that complain are of course, just a special interest group and can be disregarded as hopelessly biased. After all, the cats can no longer afford to subsidize small pickings from the mice population and without larger mouse holes the whole feline economy will collapse.

In addition to inspiring more vigour among otherwise recalcitrant mice, the country's cats have joined with cats around the world and agreed that some important issues need to be taken out of the claws of local authorities and given to international feline societies. So mouse hole sizes, feeding rates, local micely customs and other important matters will now be handled at a higher council. So, it won't matter if the mice elect themselves into government the really important issues will still be decided by fat cats—most of whom don't run for office anywhere.

In concert with these new reforms, the cats sold the responsibility to regularize certain more minor domestic issues—care of sick mice for instance— to dog syndicates who function as profit centres. They have no interest or responsibility in the welfare of the mice population—not really. They are just offering a service—pay as you go. If canines get too greedy, their avarice will be checked by the market—supply and demand—as the mice decline in health and numbers the dogs will naturally adjust their standards.

Finally, some of the cats are appointing cat public corporations to carry out all new mouse hole protection and maintenance. The elected cats are no longer in charge—it's specially appointed cat committees that all have a few token mice one them, that make the decisions on whose claws to clip. So when the mice complain about the lack of surveillance or protection of their mouse holes. "Gosh," say the fat cats, "That's a terrible pity, but its no longer in our hands. We don't make decisions, just set general policy."

addition from
HEADACHES AND HEART BREAKS:
The Future of Religion in Canada
By Christopher Levan
Annual Meeting of the Canadian Unitarian Council
May 19, 2000

Gay Genes?

2005-05-13T15:23:00.000-05:00

This week has been an interesting one for the members of the gay community. A recently released study indicates that gay men's brains may be 'wired' differently than those of straight men.

Pheromone attracts straight women and gay men
Smelling a male pheromone prompts the same brain activity in homosexual men as it does in heterosexual women, a new study has found. It did not excite the sex-related region in the brains of heterosexual males, although an oestrogen-derived compound found in female urine did.

The testosterone-derived chemical and is found in male sweat and is believed to be a pheromone. It activated the anterior hypothalamus and medial preoptic area of gay men and straight women alike. Researchers led by Ivanka Savic at the Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden believe this brain region integrates the hormonal and sensory cues used in guiding sexual behaviour.

This study adds to a growing body of scientific evidence suggesting that, at a minimum, there is a biological influence on sexual orientation and that sexual orientation is nowhere near as simple a phenomenon as being a "life style decision". More on this in a moment.

On a related topic. The Focus on the Family dog and pony show is making a stop in Winnipeg May 14. Performances run all day at the Calvary Temple in downtown Winnipeg. The production claims

In this dynamic one-day conference from Focus on the Family, you'll get answers to tough questions.

...you'll hear from nationally known experts who have firsthand experience with the seldom-told side of the homosexual issue. You'll learn how to minister to a loved one who's dealing with homosexuality, respond to misinformation in our culture, defend biblical beliefs and prevent your child from embracing this destructive way of life. Most importantly, you'll be reminded of the power of God's love and His desire to transform the life of a struggling homosexual to find freedom in Jesus Christ. Come and witness the type of love that draws men and women affected by homosexuality into the arms of their Creator.

It also promises

you'll get answers to tough questions like:
Is it genetic?

Can it be prevented?

What's being taught in schools?

How will gay marriage affect our society?

What causes homosexuality?

What should I say to my children about it?

I don't think it's right, so what should I do?

What should the church's stance be?

What about gay rights and minority status?

How do I help my friend who's gay?

Speakers include a "cured" formerly gay man along with various other snake oil sales people.

Local members of the GLBT communities, having previous experience with the the loving tenderness of Dobson's Dolts, have expressed their intention to show up and express a little love of their own.

This provides an excellent segue to honour a request that was made to me too long ago. Back in January I posted an item called SpongeDob Has a Bad Week. Part of that post referred to a study showing a genetic influence on sexual orientation.

Researcher Sees Group of Homosexuality Genes
By Tom Spears

A Chicago genome researcher says he has found a group of genes that strongly influence whether a man is homosexual - not a single "gay gene," but a group of genes acting together....

While genes are unlikely to decide everything in sexual orientation, being gay or heterosexual " is probably largely determined before birth. How you acted as a parent probably doesn't play much role," said the main researcher, Brian Mustanski, a behavioural geneticist .

As a result of this post indicating some interest in this topic, I was contacted recently by Dr. Alan R. Sanders, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University and Director of the Behavior Genetics Unit at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute who asked me to help publicize a study he is heading up called A Molecular Genetic Study of Sexual Orientation.

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with either this study or any of the researchers involved. My due diligence is limited to having read the associated material and checking Dr. Sander's qualifications which can be found here.

The Press release:

For Immediate Release

May 13, 2005

Dr. Alan R. Sanders is leading a research team to recruit approximately 1,000 volunteer families across the country for a genetic study of male sexual orientation. This five-year study, the largest of its kind in history, is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and asks gay men with at least one gay brother to answer a questionnaire and donate blood for DNA analysis.

The study is recruiting volunteers from across the United States and Canada through the gay and lesbian press, at various gay and lesbian social gatherings such as Pride events, and from various gay and lesbian oriented groups and on-line. With permission, research staff members contact parents of these brothers to learn whether they would be willing to donate blood as well, as part of the genetic analyses.

Prior studies have provided compelling evidence that genes play a role in sexual orientation in some men. None of those studies has been definitive in the sense of identifying particular genes. This study is designed to detect which genetic regions might be linked to male sexual orientation, which will help clarify how genes contribute to human behavior.

During the study, the research team will communicate with the public about the nature and goals of the study. Specifically, the research team has developed materials to address the ethical, social, and legal implications of the study, and made these available as a matter for public education (http://www.gaybros.com/). When completed, this study will make a significant contribution to the scientific debate about the origins of sexual orientation. For further information, please write to malegene@enh.org or call toll-free (866) 364-7571.

Alan R. Sanders, M.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern University. He is the Director of the Behavior Genetics Unit at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute.

Comments: This is provided for your information. I am neither encouraging nor discouraging participation in the study simply because I do not feel I am in any position to advocate to or for the gay community.

My motive for publicizing this research is simple. I have had many gay friends and acquaintances over the last several decades. None of them has ever said he considers his sexual orientation to be a "life style choice" rather than a biological imperative. Therefore, it seems to me that any reputable research into a genetic link to sexual orientation is a good thing.

I understand that discovering such a link will have no effect on gay bashing homophobes like Dobson's Dolts who don't give a damn about science anyway.

I also appreciate that there are members of the gay community who are comfortable enough in their sexuality that they really don't care if such a link exists.

However, based on the experiences of some of the afore mentioned friends, I believe there are many within the community who would very much like a deeper insight into something that, rightly or wrongly, has been such a defining factor in their lives.

I Wonder

2005-05-11T08:55:00.000-05:00

According to a May 10 Gallup poll in the US:

Gallup: Americans Think Congress Is Doing Bad Job, See Ethics Problems

NEW YORK A new Gallup Poll released this morning shows that only 35% of Americans approve of the way Congress is handling its job. That is the lowest approval rating for Congress since July 1997.

Almost 4 in 10 say most Republicans and, separately, most Democrats in Congress, are unethical.

After watching our members of Parliament playing in the sandbox at the Common House for the last several weeks, I can't help wondering if our MPs would get anywhere near a 35% approval rating. And they wonder why 40% of Canadians won't give up a rerun of CSI to vote in a federal election. It seems those who want us to be more like the US got what they wanted.

Interesting New Poll

2005-05-09T10:17:00.000-05:00

Before I get to the topic at hand, I must admit to feeling a little humbled by the number of people still visiting here after a couple of weeks of no posts. I have some good news. I managed to get everything done last week that had to be done. The bad news is that, while I would like to be able to say this represents a return to normal posting, I'm afraid that is still several weeks away.

The item that caught my eye this morning is a joint Canadian-American poll published on both the CTV and Globe and Mail websites. The Globe & Mail version is the more complete.

Cross-border amity eroding:poll
Canadians' and Americans' national regard for each other is rapidly eroding even as, somewhat paradoxically, their core values are rapidly converging, according to a new Ipsos-Reid poll.

What is most interesting about the poll is the extent to which citizens of both countries hold similar values contrary to what many Canadians believe. For example, about 40% in both countries believe:

"the expansion of police powers to fight terrorism has gone too far, and threatens the "fundamental civil rights of all citizens."

Overwhelming majorities in both countries -- 78 per cent of Americans and 87 per cent of Canadians -- agree that the government "has a responsibility to protect the poor."

And 88 per cent of Americans and 93 per cent of Canadians believe caring for the elderly is a government duty.

There are similar levels of agreement on a variety of issues generally thought to be divisive. Ed Broadbent questions the depth of some of these commitments on the other side of the border.

Ed Broadbent, elder statesman for the nationalist-leaning New Democrats, said he took some comfort from the notion that Americans appear to be moving toward the centre on key social issues. However, he questioned whether the sentiments expressed in the survey would translate into a willingness to pay higher taxes.

"I'd like to know how deep that runs," Mr. Broadbent said.

Perhaps more to the point is that, if these numbers actually do represent firm support, it is an indication of just how far the Bush regime is removed from majority of the US public.

There is another finding that should indicate how far we should, or rather shouldn't, trust our southern neighbours.

Just 53 per cent of Canadians now cite the United States as Canada's closest friend and ally, down from 60 per cent in 2002. And only 14 per cent of Americans believe Canada is their country's closest ally, compared with 18 per cent three years ago.

Perhaps the shrinking number of Canadians who see the US as Canada's closest friend and ally is simply an acknowledgment of the reality that they never felt that way about us.

Two additional findings have to qualify as good news for Canadian progessives. The first one that caught my eye is

Since 2002, the percentage of Canadians who back further economic integration has slipped to 38 per cent from 44 per cent.

Now if we can only get that message to the Bay Street Bandits and their political underlings.

The second is that, while 36% of Americans said their religious faith determines which political leader they vote for, only 22% of Canadians said the same. It appears, as many of us hope, the separation of church and state is much healthier in this country. We need to work very hard to ensure it stays that way. There is also a possible partial explanation here for why SCRAC has such a problem topping 30% in the polls.

Catching Up

2005-05-02T14:44:00.000-05:00

Thank you to those of you who are still dropping by for a visit. The week before last, my back decided to see how many different ways it could tie itself in knots. Last week was spent trying to catch up everything that was supposed to have been done the week before and dealing with a continuing series of disasters from things not having been done. If that isn't fun enough, this week will be one of the busiest of the spring. Seems my erratic posting notice was right on.

It appears that my bit of Devil's Advocacy in my last post produced pretty predictable reaction both publicly and privately. I will be returning to the subject of legitimate voter alienation at another time.

I am working on a few other things. Since we're going to be deluged with opinion polls until whenever the next election is held and I have some experience in that are, I will be putting together something on polling and what polls do and do not tell you as well as doing some analysis. I'm still working on a Peak Oil Pt2 and there is an interesting research study I have been asked to promote.

Back again as soon as possible.

I Might Sit Out This Dance

2005-04-22T11:08:00.000-05:00

We won't know for a couple of weeks but it looks increasingly like those of us who predicted there wouldn't be an federal election this spring were wrong. If there is an election this spring, I may find myself sitting it out. Perhaps this is my Howard Beale moment.

I'm tired of participating in the great Canadian farce. Yes, that one. The one where you walk into the voting booth, hold your nose and vote for some useless sonuvabitch running for a party that doesn't represent you because he isn't quite as bad as the useless sonuvabitch running for some other party that doesn't represent you. I'm tired of voting for the candidate I dislike least. And I'm tired of voting strategically for someone I wouldn't walk across the street to piss on just to keep someone I don't want to share a time zone with out of government.

I have already pretty much resolved to sit out the next provincial election because there is no one I can vote for in good conscience. The Liberals and the Conservatives here have redefined "bottom of the barrel" by tacking on a subterranean level. The NDP is NDP in name only. They sound more like the Conservatives and persist in passing anti-democratic, civil rights limiting legislation.

So what are my wondrous choices for the next federal election? Let's look at them.

First we have SCRAC. This is easy. I wouldn't vote for SCRAC if they were the only party on the ballot and somebody put a gun to my head.

Then we have the (so called) Liberals. I have only voted Liberal once in my life and that was a strategic vote hoping to keep the SCRAC neandercon from getting elected. He won anyway and, for six months after, I felt like I needed a shower every time I thought about having voted Liberal. And that was before they turned into the Kloset Konservative party. So a vote for Paulie and the boys? I think not.

Then we have the Green Party. Or do we? In my part of the world, they have failed to demonstrate they have a coherent policy on anything much less a coherent vision for the country. Another non starter.

And, of course, we have the NDP who either don't have a coherent vision for the country or have been unable to enunciate it - which, in practical terms, is the same thing. I agree with those of you who feel that Layton gave the best performance following Martin's "please don't beat me like a rented mule even though I'm wearing a sign that says 'Beat me Like a Rented Mule'" speech last night. With Martin, Harper and Duceppe setting the bar, how hard a standard is that to beat ? So Layton has stopped looking like a professional idiot. The fact that we even notice says more about the company he keeps than it says about Layton himself. When you are surrounded by enough turkeys, even a chicken hawk looks like an eagle.

So there is the line up. Feeling better yet? Given a few more months, one of these sorry excuses might be able to persuade me to vote for them. But, if there is an election in the next few weeks, I can't vote for any of them in good conscience because I have yet to be convinced that any of these parties is qualified to run the country. For the first time in my life, I may find myself standing with the majority and voting with my feet. I believe that most of the people who don't show up at the polling station are still voting. They are casting their ballots for 'none of the above'. And, under the circumstances, who could blame us?

Scandal my Ass

2005-04-21T13:13:00.000-05:00

Update:
Ok. As per pogge's comments the post was probably an urban legend although I have heard similar stories elsewhere but I don't have the time or interest in digging them out so I nuked the post.

The Power of Nightmares

2005-04-21T09:12:00.000-05:00

Hyping Terror For Fun, Profit - And Power
by Thom Hartmann

What if there really was no need for much - or even most - of the Cold War? What if, in fact, the Cold War had been kept alive for two decades based on phony WMD threats?

What if, similarly, the War On Terror was largely a scam, and the administration was hyping it to seem larger-than-life? What if our "enemy" represented a real but relatively small threat posed by rogue and criminal groups well outside the mainstream of Islam? What if that hype was done largely to enhance the power, electability, and stature of George W. Bush and Tony Blair?

And what if the world was to discover the most shocking dimensions of these twin deceits - that the same men promulgated them in the 1970s and today?

It happened.

Is Al Qaeda Just a Bush Boogeyman?
by Robert Scheer

Is it conceivable that Al Qaeda, as defined by President Bush as the center of a vast and well-organized international terrorist conspiracy, does not exist?

To even raise the question amid all the officially inspired hysteria is heretical, especially in the context of the U.S. media's supine acceptance of administration claims relating to national security. Yet a brilliant new BBC film produced by one of Britain's leading documentary filmmakers systematically challenges this and many other accepted articles of faith in the so-called war on terror.

"The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear," a three-hour historical film by Adam Curtis recently aired by the British Broadcasting Corp., argues coherently that much of what we have been told about the threat of international terrorism "is a fantasy that has been exaggerated and distorted by politicians. It is a dark illusion that has spread unquestioned through governments around the world, the security services and the international media."

This series will be carried by the CBC on The Passionate Eye running April 24 - 26, 2005 at 10pm ET/PT on CBC Newsworld. Note this is on NEWSWORLD not the main network (dammit). I have been wanting to see this since it was released and figured CBC was the best chance to see it in North America. Of course they had to put in on Newsworld so, having neither cable nor a dish, I have to find someone to tape it for me. I have heard nothing but rave reviews about this project. There is additional information on the CBC website. For Americans able get get the CBC feed, this is likely your only chance to see it.

Habemus Papam

2005-04-20T12:22:00.000-05:00

At least Roman Catholics have one. Or, perhaps, just some Roman Catholics have one. Having decades ago written off the Catholic church as the worldly manifestation of much of what is wrong with organized religion, the election of a new pope is of little personal interest to me.

What I do find interesting is that, by elevating the reactionary Ratzinger to the papacy, the Catholic Church has continued the world wide movement toward religious extremism. Benedict XVI's dogmatic religious and social conservatism should be almost enough to finish the Catholic Church as a relevant entity in most of Europe, Canada and the rest of the developed world excluding the extremism oriented US.

What will be particularly interesting is the consequences of Ratzinger's statements that the Catholic Church is the only true religion. Given that Christian fundamentalists in North America have already staked out that turf as their own, it will be worth watching what affect this has on the budding romance between Catholic extremists and the fundy extremists in the US. The new Pope clearly intends to meddle in politics. There are obvious overlaps between the dogma of the two groups (eg. abortion) but the question is whether Ratzinger's declarations of Catholic supremacy will cause a split between them.

I couldn't watch these proceedings without thinking back to one of my favourite Mark Twain passages from The Damned Human Race:

Man is the Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion - several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself, and cuts his throat if his theology isn’t straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother’s path to happiness and heaven.....The higher animals have no religion. And we are told that they are going to be left out, in the Hereafter. I wonder why? It seems questionable taste.

Man is the Reasoning Animal. Such is the claim. I think it is open to dispute. Indeed, my experiments have proven to me that he is the Unreasoning Animal....

In truth, man is incurably foolish. Simple things which the other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning. Among my experiments was this. In an hour I taught a cat and a dog to be friends. I put them in a cage. In another hour I taught them to be friends with a rabbit. In the course of two days I was able to add a fox, a goose, a squirrel and some doves. Finally a monkey. They lived together in peace; even affectionately.

Next, in another cage I confined an Irish Catholic from Tipperary, and as soon as he seemed tame I added a Scotch Presbyterian from Aberdeen. Next a Turk from Constantinople; a Greek Christian from Crete; an Armenian; a Methodist from the wilds of Arkansas; a Buddhist from China; a Brahman from Benares. Finally, a Salvation Army Colonel from Wapping. Then I stayed away two whole days. When I came back to note results, the cage of Higher Animals was all right, but in the other there was but a chaos of gory odds and ends of turbans and fezzes and plaids and bones and flesh—not a specimen left alive. These Reasoning Animals had disagreed on a theological detail and carried the matter to a Higher Court.

Religious extremists taking their disputes to a higher court is probably a good thing for the rest of us - as long as we can stay out of the line of fire.

The Prophecy

2005-04-15T09:20:00.000-05:00

It is my policy not to visit the blogs of the liberally challenged among us to retrieve and rehash their comments. I find it more productive of flame wars than rational discourse. Besides, I've heard it all before anyway. I'm going to make a small exception.

Over at Bound By Gravity, Andrew was railing (or was that wailing?) about the actions of the conservatives' allies. Preston "Gomer Pyle" Manning and Mike "I've got to get the hell out of here before they find out how badly I screwed everything up" Harris released a report calling for "the federal government to get out of medicare and let the provinces experiment with private health services."

Andrew's response was:

I swear - some days it seems like Conservatives everywhere are out to sabotage their own hopes of ever holding power federally. What we have here are two die-hard Conservatives, Manning and Harris, releasing a paper that was sponsored by the right-wing Fraser Institute, and covered using ham-handed scare tactics by the Conservative-friendly National Post. And these are our allies.

There has also been much breast beating by Conservatives about how they don't get why Canadians don't just drop everything and run out to embrace the wondrous Conservative Party.

Conservatives suffer from two not unrelated conditions. The first is what sociologists call the Myth of Universality. Basically it is the belief that, since I see the world in a certain way, everyone else must obviously see it the same way. For Conservatives, this translates into the childlike belief that, way down deep in the heart of their bottoms, all Canadians are really Conservatives. And if they can only be made to embrace their inner wingnut, the Golden Age of Canadian Conservatism will be be upon us "and all shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well". Can I get an amen from the choir?

The second condition is that Conservatives have very poor memories and believe, or at least hope, that the rest of Canadians have memories as fallible as their own. One of the things they conveniently forget is that pissing off Canadians to the core of their being is not something on which the Liberal Party has a monopoly. There are two generations of Canadians, those who survived the government of R. B. Bennett in the '30s and those who survived the government of Demon Spawn Mulroney, for a large percentage of whom the word 'conservative' will forever be synonymous with 'bad government'. And many of them swore that, as long as they lived, they would never, ever vote for a Conservative again.

Today's Conservatives, who are almost universally America Lite supporters or 51st Staters, see Lyin' Brian Mulroney as their political godfather so they can't wait to trot out the jaw that walks like a man and bask in the glory of his electoral success and sage advice. Of course the memory thing kicks in again and they conveniently forget that it was Mulroney's policies that drove the Progressive Conservative Party to the brink of extinction and forced it into the wilderness from whence it never returned. So while the Conservatives gleefully line up to kiss Don Brian's hand, it never even occurs to them that, for millions of Canadians, an endorsement from Mulroney is the kiss of death.

It doesn't help them that the presence of the reactionary wing of the party can always be found lurking in dark corners. Nor does it benefit them that they have chosen the Prairie Weather Model for their policy. "If you don't like our policy now, wait ten minutes." This government by polling approach is also a throwback to Mulroney whose model was poll them, find out what they want, promise them whatever it takes to get elected and then do whatever the hell you were going to do in the first place. How did you think he came to be known as 'Lyin' Brian'? So the circular firing squad that is the trademark of the Social Credit Reform Alliance Conservative Party isn't the real problem. It just serves as a constant reminder to Canadian voters how much they hate the Conservative Party and why.

So my prophecy is this. At thine assemblies, bring forth Brian of Mulroney and Gomer of Manning for they are well loved by all in the land. And also bring forth ~~Doris~~ Stockwell of Day for he too is beloved as non other. And heed well their wise counsel. And send forth thine emissaries to all parts of the land. Bid them assemble their countrymen and speak thus unto those assembled. "Thou art all Conservatives were thou not too stupid to know it." Do thus as I bid thee. And verily I say unto thee, thou shalt dwell in the house of Stornoway for ever. And for that one I need a hallelujah from the choir.

They Want to Force an Election on These Numbers?

2005-04-13T01:21:00.000-05:00

I've been busy and haven't been paying much attention to the polls other than what I've heard in the media. I actually sat down and took a hard look at the numbers from the latest Ipsos-Reid poll today. If these are the numbers SCRAC wants to force an election on, there is some good shit being smoked in Ottawa.

Yes, the Liberals are way down blah blah like the media pundits have been saying but the devil is in the details. The Kloset Konservatives aren't the only ones down in the polls. SCRAC is down 2% in Ontario, 3% in Alberta (where the Liberals are up an amazing 8% - the only province in which they posted a gain), and 8% in Saskatchewan /Manitoba. They are up an insignificant 1% in BC, 4% in Atlantic Canada and 5% in Quebec to put them in a tie with the mighty NDP which still means zero seats. This leads me to believe there is a lot of soft support for for the CPC. It seems Canadians are a lot more willing to threaten the Liberals with the Conservatives than they are to actually vote for them.

This is further supported by two more surprising numbers. That 55% of Canadians say they won't consider voting for the Liberals in the next election is no surprise under the circumstances. What is surprising is that 50% say they won't consider voting for the Conservatives in the next election. Perhaps even more surprising is that, even after weeks of what you could be excused for believing (erroneously) is the worst political scandal in Canadian history, 48% say they still trust Mr. Dithers more than Stephen Harper while only 46% take the opposite position.

Some of you may remember this paragraph from an earlier post of mine.

On top of the factionalization, there are well deserved grumblings about Harper's leadership after he led the party to a major defeat in the last election. Yes Pollyanna, I said major defeat. The scandal plagued Liberal government was an object of derision in most of the country. Paul Martin, ever since he took over the party was stumbling and lurching around like someone on a six month binge while wearing a sign saying "Beat Me Like a Rented Mule". Instead of what should have been an easy victory, the best Stephen Harper could do was to lose 5% off the combined Alliance/PC vote from the previous election. That's not a minor electoral setback. That's a 32 ounce can of Whup Ass.

It appears not much has changed. Canadians still don't trust Stevie Wonder Wanker and the refugees from the Alliance.

It's easy to see why Harper might want to have an election in a hurry. If the Gomery inquiry absolves the current leadership of the Liberals in its final report, Harper looks like an opportunistic twit, SCRAC numbers continue to fall and the Liberal numbers rebound slightly as voters have the summer to get over being pissed off. And there goes the ball game.

There are only two problems with Harper wanting a quick election. First, an astounding 87% of the electorate want the Gomery inquiry finished before an election. The electorate is in a surly mood and is likely to severely spank anyone who forces a premature election. Second, the Conservatives need some help from the other opposition parties to bring down the government.

If there is any intelligence floating around the NDP these days, they should be in no hurry for an election. Their numbers are way up in BC (13%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (12%). The NDP is in a position to make some significant gains if they play their cards right. First, ~~Odie~~ Smilin' Jack has to convince voters in Ontario and the Maritimes that he's not an idiot. Then he has to push the idea that, with the Liberal shift to the right, there are two conservative parties nationally and neither one of them can be trusted with the family jewels. He has to make the point that the NDP is the only party that doesn't have a bunch of baggage. He also has to have a vision for the country and be able to articulate it. This is a tall order for a party with a leadership that has been a black hole from which no light has escaped in years but it can be done. However, it will take time so Layton has exactly the opposite problem Harper has - time is on Layton's side. He needs to stress that he is listening to the people telling him they don't want an election before fall.

Of course what Harper really needs is the support of the Bloc. The SCRACheads can't bring down the government without the support of the entire Blochead caucus. It really doesn't make much difference to Duceppe when the election is held. The result for him will the the same in six months as it will tomorrow - the Bloc will win at least the same number of seats as they have now and probably a few more. Duceppe will decide the timing of the election on the basis of what is best for the Bloc not what is best for the Conservatives. I don't claim to have any insight into why the Bloc does anything. But my guess is that the decision will be based on whether the Bloc figures a minority Conservative government, which would be the recipient of a general, non-specific hatred from Quebecers, or a minority Liberal government, which would be the recipient of a very specific and profound hatred from Quebecers, would be more useful to the separatists' goals. My bet would be on the Liberals.

The election could be called tomorrow but my best bet is that we won't see one until fall unless someone does something really stupid or it looks like the Gomery inquiry is going south for the Liberals.

When News is No News

2005-04-12T13:46:00.000-05:00

I just walked in in time to see a great TV expose on what is on George Bush's iPod. Great t'underin' jeebus but it never ceases to amaze me how obsessed Americans are with the trivialities of their ~~deities~~ presidents' lives. I'm surprised I haven't seen an expose on what colour toilet paper the White House buys and why.

Note to US media: If you guys spent the same amount of energy on investigating Admiral Bunnypants' policies as you did on investigating the contents of his effen iPod, the world might not be in such a mess.

Note to Canadian media: If you can't think of any more relevant stories to cover than what's on foreign politicians' iPods, give me a call - I have a dozen or so for you.

During the old Roman Empire they used to throw christians to the lions. Under the new Roman Empire they throw lions to the christians. The more things change.....

Peak Oil Update

2005-04-07T21:44:00.000-05:00

There is an interesting diary by Jerome a Paris over at Daily Kos covering a number of issues including peak oil. There are some interesting links in the comments as well as the diary itself. I get the sense a lot of people are sitting around doing the equivalent of riding an elevator while watching for the cable to break. An understandable reaction but not a very productive one.

The Yanks Lose Another One

2005-04-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

Another international trade ruling his gone in favour of Canada.

Canadian pork producers claim victory in trade fight with U.S.

Canada's pork producers claimed victory Wednesday after the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that exports of live hogs to the U.S. do not injure the American market....

The ITC voted 5-0 that Canadian hogs do not hurt the American market. The vote means roughly $25 million in duties collected must be returned by the end of April. Those duties had been collected since October 2004.

The US must now be about zero for umpteen at winning it's claims of unfair competition from Canadians. This vote wasn't even close. What remains to be seen is whether the US will abide by the ruling or ignore it as usual.

Perhaps it is time for our southern neighbours to stop believing their own propaganda about being able to do everything faster, better and more efficiently than anybody else. The notion that the only way anyone else can can compete equally with Americans at anything is by cheating somehow has gotten awfully old.