January 2008
Getting The History Wrong Doesn't Help Either
Posted by on Thursday, January 31, 2008 in - leave a comment
When even the Toronto Star is pointing out that NDP leader Jack Layton has the facts wrong, you have to ask yourself who is doing the research: • “...the historical reality Layton points to is somewhat more complicated. The British did in fact defeat an Afghan insurgency in the Second Afghan War …
Is It Less Fun Now That Only Two Are Left In Each Party?
Posted by on Thursday, January 31, 2008 in - 16 comments
It's sorta like the second round of the NHL playoffs now, a little less exciting and a little more about the game. Especially for the Republicans. No one is listening to Huckabee or Paul even though they are the only actual conservatives left in the race. What to do now?: • “But backing from Mr …
And Now Gomery's Being Mean to Harper
Posted by on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 in - 2 comments
Now even I am starting to feel bad for the PM. First, Ben says our Prime Minister "doesn't have enough confidence in himself, sadly." Now Gomery says Harper has bailed on accountability: • “ John Gomery, in a wide-ranging interview marking the second anniversary of his final report, expressed …
Being Mean To Rudy
Posted by on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 in - 1 comment
I am sure the Votemaster likes his job without a master and doing it so masterly. Not content to merely repeat the polls of others, not content to drill down where others fear to go, one lone statistician unbound by journalistic standards - he occasionally observes: • “What happened to Rudy …
Technically Not Really A Post And Not A Snark, No Way...
Posted by on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 - leave a comment
Theoretically, I might have reason to be in a certain courtroom one day so let me just guide you to the story: • “An Ontario judge is at the centre of a misconduct investigation after insisting a witness who is HIV-positive and has Hepatitis C don a mask while testifying in his courtroom. Three …
Has eBay Peaked?
Posted by on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 in - 1 comment
I haven't gone to eBay looking for junk like my junk to add to my junk for some time now so it is interesting to see that there may actually be troubles over at the big money for nothing shop: • “EBay Inc.'s incoming chief executive officer John Donahoe has wasted no time shaking up the online …
Would A Real Leader Do This?
Posted by on Tuesday, January 29, 2008 in - 2 comments
Federally, Canada has been in a bad way as far as leadership goes for a long time. How many years, how many elections since we were fairly satisfied that someone knew how to run the shop well? Today's news is no comfort to those who would wish that these days provided any glimer of hope …
Please Don't Hit Me. Please Don't Hit Me. Please Don't Hit Me.
Posted by on Monday, January 28, 2008 in - leave a comment
Drag. I just got the new shingles up this year - like 40 year shingles, you know. And now there's space junk a fallin'. Space junk can look cool when it's falling except when it's falling on you. • I must have told you this but last summer, we were sitting out back in the early evening when …
The Votemaster On Race And Place In The Race
Posted by on Monday, January 28, 2008 in - 2 comments
Beside the fact that he's in the Netherlands and pretty much apolitical (unless increasing understanding is political), one of the reasons that I like the Votemaster so much is that is it a site about meta-polling: what polling methodology and results mean, not just what they are. This analysis of …
It Is UnCanadian To Question Or Embarrass Your New Rural Overlords!
Posted by on Saturday, January 26, 2008 in - 10 comments
The whole bleat of the Government of One is getting tired, is it not? How is it that after the PMO botches a story and then botches it again, that the Opposition then commenting on the botch is a deed done wrong? Only the mind of Peter MacKay knows that: • “Dion pointed out Friday that Defence …
The Last Friday Bullets Before February
Posted by on Friday, January 25, 2008 in - 17 comments
Janufeb. The grey blur before the melt, made more grey those three out of four years without Olympic curling. It is the time when the Morton teeters, when show turns that other colour. We've seen the dark edge of the storm and even had double lake effect this week. I heard an ad for large screen …
Santana Needs To Be A Met
Posted by on Thursday, January 24, 2008 in - 1 comment
The more I think of it, Santana should be a Met. Frankly, if the Soxs get him they should just hand them the World Series now. And no one wants the Yankees to get him as the Yankees need a decade in the wilderness. There is another reason he needs to be with the Mets, however: he can hit. • “His …
The US Convention System Explained
Posted by on Thursday, January 24, 2008 in - 1 comment
If it is not too a fine point, I am a much bigger election junky than a political one. I am far more often disappointed by the quality of leadership than I am by the process of picking those leaders. But every process differs and, in this US election year, there is a chance that a little used …
All Market Collapse All The Time!
Posted by on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 in - 1 comment
I think a real recession might be the only thing the untrained eye of the blogosphere has to look upon. Plenty of disasters, politics and a major war have fed the great smug borg but never a real spine-slackening pit of despair like a loss of faith, which is what a recession really is. So it is …
Happy Market Collapse Day!
Posted by on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 in - 6 comments
We seldom celebrate the things that have real meaning. By the end of today things could be very bad, not so bad or really really bad. In my way I warned you. I mentioned the bubble economics, I guided you to the prudent path of low expectations and modest tastes. But you lent that money to the …
I'm A Goat...I'm A Goat...I'm Not A Goat!
Posted by on Monday, January 21, 2008 in - 9 comments
...if Al has the tee on, then I won't wiff this one, too..." • I admit it - I am a Johnny come lately. I have listened to the home broadcaster for the Giants, WFAN, for fifteen years or more. I like how they call them the New York Football Giants like it's 1948. And the use of grey in the …
Shot Put Training In January
Posted by on Saturday, January 19, 2008 in - 4 comments
...maybe one day I can be on a shot put guy card. • If there was one thing I did in 2007 that has changed my life, it's buying that shot put. 10,000 and more sit ups since the last of summer? Shot put. Pressing 42 lb dumbbells? Shot put. If I am to have a breakout year this year at 45 I have to …
More With the Nuclear Politics In Ottawa...What, Is It VI Now?
Posted by on Saturday, January 19, 2008 in - 5 comments
A reasonable article in The Star this morning pointing out that there is plenty of blame to go around for the Chalk River nuclear botch...except the person who was blamed: • “In the view of most nuclear experts and informed observers, these AECL failures are the real cause of last month's crisis …
Friday Bullets For The Deep Of Mid-January
Posted by on Friday, January 18, 2008 in - 2 comments
I met a person whose body and chattles weighed in at under six pounds this week. Amazing stuff people. Like carrying a shoe around. What else did I notice this week? • When some kid does her masters thesis on me, there will be something of a puzzle to solve so I better help her out. Yes, that is …
A Firing Offence
Posted by on Thursday, January 17, 2008 in - 4 comments
This seems a no-brainer requiring discipline actions but expect nothing of the sort: • “...in an email to reporters on Saturday, Guergis discussed plans of Dion and deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff to visit the Provincial Reconstruction Team before the two men revealed them. In her email …
10,001
Posted by on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 in - 3 comments
Sit ups. In 115 days. Still have a gut bit there is a six pack there under all those six packs.
It's Like No One Really Want To Win This Race
Posted by on Wednesday, January 16, 2008 in - 12 comments
Another day another come back kid: • “Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who ran as a son of Michigan though he left the state nearly 40 years ago, won a commanding victory Tuesday in the Republican primary here with a message aimed at voters deeply anxious about the state’s ailing …
Oh Dear - Our Oil Is The Bad Sort Of Oil
Posted by on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 in - 10 comments
I have a love affair with oil in the same way I love TV and sugar. I pretend I don't rely on them. I plant my garden in the spring, skip the transfats for the most part and do nice things when I can without asking too much in return. But I don't have solar panels and the personal windmill is a …
How Not To Lose #4583
Posted by on Monday, January 14, 2008 in - leave a comment
This is almost as sad as neo-cons crying about being brought before a human rights tribunal to answer to a complaint rather than fighting for liberty's cause with a little pep and vim. Nothing sadder than a vimless neo-con unless... • “"It’s not about Tony," he said, his voice even, flat. “You …
What Is That Baseball Electronic Thing?
Posted by on Sunday, January 13, 2008 in - 2 comments
There is a good story in The New York Times this morning about classic baseball announcers and it includes this photo of Red Barber broadcasting at Ebbets Field: • “"They’re tearing up the pea patch," Barber would inform his audience in Brooklyn, where there were precious few pea patches, but we …
Can I Vote For Danny Williams, Too?
Posted by on Saturday, January 12, 2008 in - leave a comment
Is this the brightest mind at the table these days? He certainly is the plainest speaking about the non-role being played by Ottawa. • “Heading into the summit, Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams criticized "the whole façade of this meeting tonight, the whole way that this is being set up" …
Another Reason To Move Towards Open Adoption Records
Posted by on Friday, January 11, 2008 in - 6 comments
Folk say this is about privacy but it is really about taboos. Without open records, this can happen: • “ "I was recently involved in a conversation with a High Court judge who was telling me of a case he had dealt with," Alton said during the Dec. 10 debate. "It involved the normal birth of …
Bullets For A Rainy January Day
Posted by on Friday, January 11, 2008 in - 4 comments
Good thing we didn't get the tornadoes off this front like the good folk further south did. Good thing global warming is a myth. • Update: The Scots - US Gospel singing connection explained. • Just in case you were wondering, Dice-K is already working out. • Boing Boing Bingo. Gold …
Nuclear Politics In Ottawa V
Posted by on Thursday, January 10, 2008 in - leave a comment
Hey, this wasn't supposed to happen: • “Representatives of the AECL, meanwhile, appeared before the nuclear commission yesterday to explain the progress of the demanded safety upgrades that involved connecting backup electrical systems to two water-cooling pumps that would kick in in the case of …
A Pause To Remember Something From 26 Years Ago
Posted by on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 in - 1 comment
I Really Hope This Means Absolutely Nothing...
Posted by on Wednesday, January 9, 2008 in - 5 comments
Do you see what I do? I really don't want to live through this again. Either he is checking her out or he has a reason to blush. What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is going on!!!
Did The People Of New Hampshire Lie To The Pollsters?
Posted by on Tuesday, January 8, 2008 in - 6 comments
No one benefits for a race that is over before it really begins. It was not looking very interesting if the Votemaster was to be believed this morning: • “Barring something very unexpected, Barack Obama is heading towards a huge win and John McCain is heading towards a solid win. The main …
Nuclear Politics In Ottawa IV
Posted by on Tuesday, January 8, 2008 in - leave a comment
This just keeps getting better and better. In a week that the Environment Minister confirmed his depth of understanding with the line "we think a new tax sounds like a Liberal idea" - keeping in mind that the Conservatives have essentially adopted the Liberal fiscal handbook, volumes 1993 to 2006 …
Did I Mention That Space Module Design Is My Hobby?
Posted by on Monday, January 7, 2008 in - 2 comments
The British have proposed a new module for the International Space Station: • “Their idea is for Britain to build and launch two modules that greatly enhance living conditions on the platform. The Habitation Extension Modules would increase meeting and bunk space; and allow the UK to fly some …
How To Tell That Your Campaign Is Not Going Well
Posted by on Sunday, January 6, 2008 in - 6 comments
"So, they tell me this is the next big thing..." • Poor old Rudy. The final indignity will be at the polls but, really, ought there not be a rule in politics about not being seen on a Segway? Nice placement of the background signage.
Blogging The ABC US Presidential Debates From NH
Posted by on Saturday, January 5, 2008 in - 2 comments
Remember when blogging the debate meant you sat and typed out word for word (except you missed every second sentence) what people said like a bad dictaphonist? Here are my thoughts on the first Republican half of <a this evening's debates on ABC...without the crap transcript: • Format - very …
Friday Bullets? It's The First Friday Bullets Of 2008!!
Posted by on Friday, January 4, 2008 in - 5 comments
Iowa rocks. It's a whole new reason to blog. Even though blogging is now like collecting 45s, most people having voted and having voted for the dreary contentlessness of Twitter and Facebook and stuff like that, by standing up in church halls and on basketball courts, the people of Iowa say no …
The Wisdom Of The Marketplace
Posted by on Thursday, January 3, 2008 in - leave a comment
Apparently, as you pay more for gas due to the recent spike in oil prices, there is actually someone - some one person - to blame: • “Stephen Schork, a former floor trader on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the editor of an oil market newsletter, said one floor trader bought 1,000 barrels …
The Year Of The Infideleolympiad Is Here!
Posted by on Wednesday, January 2, 2008 in - leave a comment
How fun! There's more than just the Smoglympiad going on: • “The Olympic Games' ability to attract controversy is enjoying a new twist after China's equivalent of Des Lynam was humiliated at a television ceremony by his wife storming onstage and accusing him of conducting an affair...As Zhang …
Your Neanderthal Update
Posted by on Wednesday, January 2, 2008 in - leave a comment
Was they we? • “Modern humans may well have evolved from hardy Neanderthals who suffered through a dramatic cold spell that descended on Europe about 40,000 years ago, according to a new study that throws another coal into the already heated scientific debate about our origins. The report …
Mike Loses Out In The End After Dollar Collapses!
Posted by on Tuesday, January 1, 2008 in - 4 comments
Yesterday, it was all Mike, Mike, Mike but that was before the dollar fell off the counter and rolled onto the floor: • “The Canadian dollar dropped more than 1 cent in pre-New Year's Day trading Monday on concerns about the U.S. economy and unrest in the Middle East. The loonie tumbled 1.37 …
