There aren't many days when I think that blogging has fulfilled its promise but when Damian wrote me yesterday to tell me that he has been selected to be embedded with the Canadian Armed Forces in Afghanistan, I was both pleased for and proud of him. He's a graduate of RMC so should know his way around a pair of army boots. And I actually have met Damian twice - a record for any other Canadian blogger I think - and talked over beer. So, look...let's be honest, I am not sure what kind of tuck shop they have over there but I have a sense of the man and I know that he can't go anywhere, can't take two steps, without a Mars bar or a Coffee Crisp rammed into his pockets. Frankly, when I first heard "Damian is going to Kandahar" I thought they said "Damian is a candy whore" which made me think...of course he is. Anyway, I want you to press that button and give. And I want you to give as good as Darcey's gang and as heartily as the fans of the Flea. Why? Because I know this man and know that Damian passes around the Kit-Kats. He'll share. With guys like Trooper Brian Good. Damian's like that. Lend a hand.

• Twitter Update: Doc Searle may be missing a point about Twitter when conveying a link of complaint about Twitter. Twitter is really an unending Friday Bullets. It is not a social network, just a ticket tape. The river that runs by. It aggregates ideas that are bouncing around. Its only social aspect is the trust relationship of the sources you choose for your personal data flow....ok, and the smart ass retorts. But it is not a network or a community or anything like that. It might as well be in Morse Code. But it is good in itself to the extent it is just that. It is utterly unlike Facebook which is entirely emotion based and immersive.
• In other less serious news, I love how the Red Sox are going about this off season. Their pitching is really getting stacked. And that is important. It is not always about the game in September. It's that fourth game in the series in May against Oakland, too.
• Canadian politics cartooned. h/t David?
• Not a lot of discussion about Islamic reform so it is good to see some discussion about Islamic reform. Nice touch by the imam who says discussing reform is worse than being a mass murdering terrorist.
• It's getting Iggy-tastic.
• How is it that the National Post awoke this morning to announce the "new legal principle" that a person who stands in the place of a parent can't walk away anymore than a biological parent can. This has been around for decades. Decades I know someone who's likely finished paying child support because the kid - who he neither provided the sperm for or adopted - is now an adult. Expect artificial hysteria to mount.
• I was surprised to see this photo at the archives of Ontario. Why? Because it is exactly the image that is in one of the stained glass windows at Memorial Hall in Kingston City Hall, ciggie and all. You can see it in this post.
• While we are at it, support the CN workers in Winnipeg supporting the Canadian flag.

There. That must be enough for you. Don't forget to hit the pledge button up there.