THE CONSERVATIVE HIPSTERS

This photo was taken this morning in the lobby of the building that houses the Liberal Research Bureau.



According to CH spies, about 20 staffers were seen loading golf clubs into cars.

This photo shows some of them. Note the "Green Shift" hat, a particularly nice touch.

Apparently today is an organized golf day for Dion's Liberal Research Bureau.

Around the same time as this photo was taken (9:30 a.m.), the following story appeared on the CTV news page:

GG's China trip cancelled, fuelling vote speculation
Updated Wed. Aug. 27 2008 9:22 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff


In another sign that a fall federal election is all but a certainty, Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean has cancelled plans to attend the Paralympics in Beijing.

Clearly Team Dion is all prepared and has no more work and is able to take today off to hit the golf course.

I guess the only green that's shifting in the Liberal War Room is the golf green.

And the elcection buzz is almost a roar.

I would hope that PM Stephen Harper doesn't burden my faith yet again by calling an election early.

It would be difficult for me to explain to my non-politicial friends (and I would be out $20).

In all seriousness, joe average has come to expect fixed election dates. If PM SH pulls the plug himself, he is going to get hammered as someone who doesn't keep his promises.

Instead, I would love to see us give an economic update in October and have Jim Flaherty reverse our earlier rerversal on income trusts and rebuild our credibility just a wee bit.

Q

...oh wait.

Never mind.

Q

PS Didn't Williamson criticize the 5.6 Billion surplus last year? Just askin'?

Fire. Them. All.

Q

So I threw $20 in an election pool this past weekend and picked October, 2009 (the offical date).

After all the posturing this past week, I still feel comfortable with this pick as everyone seems to forget about the Bloc.

Duceppe has been completely silent.

I think the Tories are going to win the Quebec by-election (not Westmount, the other one) and the Bloc will not want to go into a general election early.

Q

B-Dub speaks:

Or not. Yikes. I'm not worried that the Prime Minister will campaign the crap out of the dorky professor there, but those numbers worry me more than horserace crap.

I think PMSH would need to simultaniously rescue 4 kittens, an orphan girl and 90-year old Grandma Louise from a house fire - that Dion started - before his numbers go up. Of course, my fellow Canadians haven't had to see Dion on TV every day.

...you're quickly becoming Air Canada.

My little girl got airsick a few weeks back on a flight from Ottawa to Toronto.

If this happened to us I would be raising holy hell.

AC is already going hard after your routes. The only way you'll survive is on your service.

I had high hopes that WestJet would be a different carrier. Slowly but surely, they are becoming the same as everyone else.

I guess an airline can't live on denim and sarcasm alone.

Quite possibly the greatest graphic novel ever made....

...may be delayed.

That is too bad.

Q

Bill C-61, as written, is bad law proposed by those who don't understand the technology they plan to regulate.

Some examples:

Making it illegal to circumvent any Digital Rights Management, so:

If the CD you buy has DRM, it is illegal to rip it to your iPod.

It will be illegal to rip a DVD to your computer or media player (video iPod, et al).

It will be illegal to record a TV show (VCR or PVR) and keep it after you have watched it.

It will be illegal to unlock your cellphone.

Not only that, but the enforcement of these laws will be impossible without massive violations of your personal and digital privacy.

Let's scrap this one and start again, shall we?

Q

PS I am surprised there has not been more of an uproar from bloggers who make youtube and similar plug-ins part of their daily blog experience.

Here's a cool deleted scene from this summer's Iron Man.



Obviously the chicks, cars and Gwyneth Paltrow are all cool, but I especially like the appearance by rapper Ghostface Killah from the Wu-Tang Clan. In the 1990's rappers had other aliases besides their primary stage name. Ghostface's was "Tony Starks" (I'm assuming he added the "s" to avoid copyright issues). He even named one of his album "Ironman."

In any event, the clip is a cool piece that really show the cool-ass playboy we know Tony Stark is. Enjoy!

I have been thinking about rights and freedoms more and more lately.

Specifically, I was wondering how to reconcile my belief in freedom of speech with the despicable actions of those who planned to protest a private funeral.

I think many people take for granted our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom of peaceful assembly.

The freedom of religion allows us to peaceful worship our God in our own way and not to be persecuted for it. If that worship begins to impose on the rights of others, it should be curtailed.

The freedom of speech was designed as a protection against the tyranny of the state as opposed to carte-blanche to rail against people or persons. We have hate laws in this country. We have libel and defamanation suits available to those who have suffered honest to goodness harm and loss of livelyhood for those who would be falsely accused. However, the statement of facts should always be a defense.

The freedom of peaceful assembly was supposed to ensure that people could assemble and protest peacefully the actions of our government without fear of reprisals.

The freedom of the press was supposed to protect journalists and newspaper owners who cover the news.

Somehow, the right not to be offended has been entrenched in the Canadian lifestyle somewhere.

Remove the Christmas tree from town hall because we may offend muslims or jews.

Remove the word "man" from "manhole cover" as we will offend women.

Complain to the Human Rights Commission when you are offended by ...... fill in blank here.

Q

Hilarious. Serves you right, you pr--k.

From my new favorite site:

So, I am reading this, and it occurs to me that while the great unwashed have been brainwashed into thinking that Kyoto = pollution, the reality is that we could correct the problem of pollution a great deal more quickly and efficiently than we can deal with global warming.

Smog is not caused by greenhouse gasses. Pollution that affects asthma sufferers and the elderly are not caused by greenhouse gasses.

I would love for someone, preferrably a Tory, to stand up and say "F*#$ Greenhouse Gasses", let's deal with the real issue, smog, VOC (volatile organic compounds) and particulate pollution with ready made, off the shelf, Canadian-made technology.

Q

(FULL DISCLOSURE: In a past life, I designed, manufactured and installed air pollution control systems for industrial applications. The technology exists to eliminate these pollutants NOW!!!!)

Labels: climate change, greenhouse gasses, kyoto

...5 days in and no medals.

My god, what a miserable, poor, destitute country we live in.

Let's all emmigrate to Togo, quick, while no one is looking.

Hey, so we're not the best in the world at sports, that's okay, we do okay democracy, human rights and free and fair elections, right?

Q

Brilliant.



I personally feel that using his fawning supporters against him is quite a good move. it makes him look less serious and the "celebrity" that he is. In a time of war, a tough economy and many other complex issues, it makes a lot of sense to paint Obamamania as another overhyped fad with very little substance.

They might want to up the ad budget, though.


Q RESPONDS

Yeah, but...these people are going to vote based on his "aura" and "bono-icity".

D'oh

or should I say

D'Obama!

The funeral of murdered 7-year old Katelynn Sampson took place today. Notwithstanding the horrific way that this little girl died - at the hands of family no less - some idiot decided to have an open casket at her visitation and funeral.

Media:

"Screams of anguish were heard as friends and loved ones saw the injuries to the little girl's battered body – which even makeup could not cover." -- Toronto Star

"The grief and anger surrounding the premature death of 7-year-old Katelynn Sampson was magnified on Tuesday when mourners attending the little girl's funeral noticed visible signs of abuse on her body.

"She had stitches on her cheek," said friend Tracey Rodda. "One eye stitched shut and black and blue, and they had to use so much cover-up and still couldn't cover the extent of her injuries." --CityTV

How can you explain this? Many of the attendees were kids Katelynn's age. As reported on the radio, she had to be dressed in a baseball cap to conceal the trauma to her head.

What good would this do? How do you possibly justify this? One may argue that its a very real opportunity to illustrate the true impacts of child abuse, but I'm certainly not one of them.

A full review of her injuries and cause of death should be an important part of the investigation by the state. But a funeral is an opportunity to celebrate her life (such as it was) and to remember her as a bright little girl. Not come face-to-face with her injuries.

Madness.

Kanye's take on the Olympiad.

There are some groups of people I hate.

I hate left-leaning liberals who believe they know what's best for me and are intolerant of my lifestyle..

I hate far right neo-nazis and any other group that practices intolerance.

I hate religious leaders who believe they can speak for God and invoke His/Her name to promote intolerance.

I also hate environmentalists who are unwilling to practice what they preach.

I hate Human Rights Commissions who feel they can legislate tolerance.

Q

...

Quote from CBC via National Newswatch

Gary Caldwell, who ran for the Tories in the Quebec riding of Compton-Stanstead, said he later redrafted his election spending report to withdraw a claim for a 60 per cent federal rebate on that amount.
"I realize that the central party, any party, can give money to the local riding association, but when we examined this further I became convinced that it was only a legitimate local expense if we in fact spent it," he told the Commons ethics committee. " In fact, that was not the case."

In 1995, I was involved with the PC Party of Ontario campaign and helped local ridings coordinate their advertising for the Common Sense Revolution. The central party provided templates and then the local candidate would post his/her name and it would be authorized by their CFO.

Now I know this is a little bit different, but it seems to me that the federal party took this a little bit further than may seem prudent, but it does not seem, at first brush, that any laws were broken.

It is a matter of interpretation whether the ads were local or national. And that will be decided by the legal action between the Party and Elections Ontario.

The ethics committee is not going to find anything new or illegal.

Q

...first, after my last trip to China, I realize (while many other don't) that there is no point to reducing greenhouse gasses until China participates in a meaningful way. We don't appreciate that they have cities (at least 20) with more people than all of Ontario.

With that said, I don't disagree with B-Double about the fact that China should not have been allowed to proceed with the Olympics as they had failed to meet any of the requirements set out for them.

When I was in Beijing this spring, the trees they were planting still had all the frames to hold them up. These trees should have been planted 8 years ago when the games were awarded.

Oh well.

With all that said, the opening ceremonies were fantastic. Give credit to the artists and performers where credit is due. The technical and artistic nature of the ceremonies made them incredibly enjoyable to watch.

However, my only comment would be that the torch lighting was a little lame.

Q

I would now like to reproduce one of the first posts I ever made on this here blog - way back in August 2004.

Still true.

I wish all our athlete the best and I hope they do well. However, I cannot and will not support a country who has failed in every "condition" they were given when they were awarded the games. And blocking the internet just cinched it for me.

It was very sad to hear everyone slobering over the opening ceremonies this morning and seemingly completely forgetting about how the host country has basically completely ignored what the west has been demanding of them.

Anyway, without further ado:

POLITICS AS USUAL: WE MUST FUND OUR OLYMPIC ATHLETES

With only about 14 hours (and counting) until the beginning of the Olympics, I thought I would make a comment of the current funding levels for Team Canada.

As various articles have mentioned, the federal government has continually underfunded our Olympic programs. In fact, Australia, which has just over half our population, spends 3 times more on their athletes than we do here in Canada.

And the results speak for themselves--we won 44 in LA in 1984, only 17 in Sydney and predictions are that we are only likely to win 12 to 14 in Athens this year. I think that's a disgrace. For the money (IOC Vice President Dick Pound has suggested Canada needs to top up funding from the current $16 million to at least $50 million) I think the returns are substantial.

For the price the federal government invests on its Federal Tobacco Strategy, we could properly fund our Olympic programs and give our athletes a fighting chance. But what's the return on our investment? Why should we give more money for sport?

Civic pride. We cannot underestimate the nation-building qualities that Team Canada has. It reminds us that we are proud to be Canadian and why. It allows us to focus on an activity as a nation and rally aroundour fellow citizens as they compete against the world.

Research and Development. There is no question that there are substantial synergies between training for the olympics and research and development. And there are economic and social benefits to that. If Canada were to establish a (or multiple) world-class athletic institutes designed to focus on athletic excellence, do you not think that both business and science from around the world would be drawn to it?

Global Stature. Frankly, I think Canada does a poor job promoting itself abroad. The same people that think the Olympics are a waste of time also think that there is no correlation to our funding (or lack thereof) of NATO and our influence (or lack thereof) within the UN. The Olympics are just another way to tell the world that Canada is a global leader. Millions of people across the world watch the Olympics every four years. Standing first on the medal podium is some of the best tourism and investment marketing Canada could do.

That's something I am willing to spend more money on.

Labels: Archives, O Canada, Olympics

...based solely on my gut feeling...

is that the Conservatives will govern until October, 2009.

I say this because while Dion and Harper are having it out, no one is asking whether the Bloc is eager for an election. Most of them know that their days are numbered in Quebec and if they can hang on for another year, why not?

Q

I have been pretty quiet on the freedom of speech verses freedom not to be offended debate.

B-Double created the "I support Mark Steyn" button to show our solidarity with Mr. Steyn and his fight against the various Human Rights Commission, and I have been following the trials and tribulations of Ezra Levant.

I haven't contributed anything on this topic, because I believe that others are expressing their distaste for this sort of totalitarian censorship much better than I.

However, I believe in freedom of expression and I believe that I have the right to offend.

I also believe that I should stand up and be counted among those who think we should

Fire. Them. All.

Q


B-Dub responds:

I don't agree with Q on this one. Sure, I'm for free speech and the right to offend. No question. However, I don't think the Human Rights Commissions are useless in and of themselves. They have a purpose when there are obvious violation of human rights, discrimination, racism and the like. However, the way things are right now the provincial and federal HRCs have become an incestuous club that is rapidly expanding its activities beyond its original mandate.

Reform is needed.

I actually like the proposals put forward a few weeks ago by B'nai Brith, which - if the House of Commons has any interest in making these Commissions work - should be adopted immediately.

Some of the highlights:

• Commissions cannot become avenues of harassment in which complaints are simultaneously made in several jurisdictions;
• Investigators must be rigourously trained to always be able to distinguish between hate and protected political speech; and
• Costs must be levied against those whose clear aim is to abuse the system by launching attacks designed to harass bona fide respondents.

I would also add that they need clearly defined rules of evidence, which is something the Macleans/Steyn show trial clearly lacked.

If they continue to be a kangaroo court for sock puppets to run to every time they don't get a 4,500 word article and cover art published, then they need to be scrapped. But if the HRC can run itself more like an actual court, then they can be an effective tool against racism and prejudice.

Q keeps it going:

I am not adverse to reform. My feeling is that the culture of the current crop of HRCs will prevent meaningful reform.

Should such reform be undertaken, I stand by the Fire. Them. All. approach and start again from scratch.

I would say, however, that the reforms being proposed above are covered in normal legislation and do not require a separate tribunal to deal with.

Q

Labels: Convo, Free Speech, HRC

So, I know thatmost of you folks are not hip-hop fans, but you need to see this video. A member of the Kidz In the Hall, a "backpack" rap group that is more of the Kanye West mold than 50 Cent, just got off stage in Arizona. These guys rap more about girls and parties than guns and drugs. Anyway, the dude gets into an altercation of some sort with club security and here's the footage:

I tried to embed it, but it won't work, so open the player HERE.

The dude goes to the hosptial with multiple injuries and actually has to get surgery from the beating he took from the bouncer. I have their album and these guys are not thugs. As the statement from their manager concludes: "In the last 2 years, Kidz In The Hall have traveled to over 10 countries, have done 200+ shows and never before been involved in any altercation, big or small, with club or concert security, or police officers."

Now, I'm not going to cry racism or anything like that, but I'd like you to think for a moment: what is this happened to a member of Fall Out Boy, or Sum41 or The Killers? This would be all over the media, a la Josh Brolin and the cast of "W".

The dude is now on stage with a leg brace and an eye patch, for crying out loud. That's a beating, folks.

Even a Andy Dick drug/perv arrest got more coverage in the tabloid press than this.

As Q says: WTF?

So last night we experienced a pretty impressive thunderstorm. Lost power. Lots of hail (no damage to the new 350Z, luckily ;-)

This morning there were all sorts of comments about the "climate change" but a heavy thunderstorm season does not equate to climate change.

Is the weather more extreme?

I don't believe so. We have had many bad summers with lots of thunderstorms in the past.

I continue to be a proud "climate change denier".
Q