Liberal Astronauts Part II

"It's time to turn the page on the sponsorship issue," said Garneau, who will run in the rural riding of Vaudreuil-Soulanges near Montreal.

"It's been put out there, it's been solved. The Liberal party has taken a beating, now it's time to move on."(link)

Being spacey must be a requirement to be a Canadian Astronaut. Being spacey, oblivious, and just plain "heinh?"...

See, I figure Canadian Astronauts have to become masters at fooling themselves in order to survive. If they honestly realised that much of what they do on the Space Shuttle, is the monkey work the Yanks don't consider American boys low enough to do, then I bet they would be mighty irritated all the time.

And that quote above is just proves it even more. Gomery hasn't even released his final report, we're always told, so how could this issue be over yet? And even if it is are we just supposed to forget about the millions that disappeared? Are we supposed to forget about the money that changed hands in brown paper bags? Are we supposed to forget about an HRDC boondogle before that? What about the gun registry fiasco? It's one thing to be a little bit spacey, but Garneau really excels at it I'll tell ya that much...

h/t NealeNews

Political Tip Numero Uno: Make sure you're riding association supports you...

This is a political tip for all those candidates running to be MP's regardless of which party... Get to know the riding association. Make sure you have support on the riding association. That should be a prerequisite for your decision to run. If you don't, and many political novices not knowing enough about politics otherwise often make this mistake, you end up in a situation like Michael Ignatieff:
Dissident Liberals plan to go ahead with a nomination meeting tonight in Etobicoke-Lakeshore despite the fact the party has already acclaimed Michael Ignatieff as the candidate in the riding.
...
There are some Liberals who say privately they would rather lose the riding, held since 1993 by Jean Augustine until she stepped down Monday, than be hijacked by a political newcomer who has not lived in Canada for any length of time for more than 30 years.

Some Liberals are even saying they will actively support the Conservative candidate John Capobianco, who was raised in the riding.(link)

I can't understand how they can go ahead with a nomination meeting tonight. I don't know if the riding exec is behind this, but I know at least one member has pubicly denounced the Ignatieff candidacy. It could be just a fake nomination meeting, that the Liberal Party won't recognize. In which case it makes for good entertainment if you have nothing to do some evening coming up soon...

Ignatieff could have made his life so much easier. He could have first met with the riding executive before he made the decision to run there. He could have attended some Liberal riding events to get to know the membership and to give them time to get confortable with him. He put his whole political career in the hands of Paul Martin and his henchmen... And they cleverly pushed out the beloved sitting MP of some randomn riding to make room for him.

I'm thinking that riding exec must be pretty ticked - or at least the membership. My guess is that Martin controls the exec with Martin loyalists, but there are bound to be a couple dissidents representing the rest on the exec. Those are the ones Ignatieff needs to gain trust from.

But hey I'm not a Liberal - so I don't care! I'm happy that they're going down the tubes 'cuz it's good for Capobianco!

Though soberly I have to admit, it could have easily have happened in the Conservative Party if we had had a different leader than Stephen Harper.

Grewal Exits

"It has come to my attention that our political opponents intend to use certain unresolved issues to attack not only me, but yourself and our party during the national campaign," Grewal wrote in a letter to Harper.

"While I would not hesitate to fight these issues personally, it would be unfair to have the battle of a single MP become a focal point of the election."

Grewal added that he did not "want to be a source of distraction during the campaign." (link)(Via)

Gurmant Grewal, for those that don't know, made recordings of senior Liberals offering him a political appointment in return for his vote on a matter of confidence of Paul Martin's government.

He was austracized for having dared to tape someone in secret.

He was villified for having dared question the integrity of the Martin government.

He was hung out to try by fellow Conservatives for whatever inexplicable reason.

He was killed politically, with the help of Paul Martin's gestapo squad in the Ethics Commisioner's office, and a few MP's in the Conservative Party as well.

It's hypocrytical... Because if Grewal had been a Liberal, he would've been a hero.

Let me say that again - If Grewal had been a Liberal, and it were the Tories in power, and Grewal had secretely taped a bribe coming from a Tory, he would've been a HERO.

Now I don't care what shady dealings Grewal may have had in the past. I don't care, because it doesn't matter. The point is that he stepped up to the plate this time, and told the truth. And because he was a Tory, and no one likes a Tory, he was destroyed for it.

Classic

"The Liberals, make no mistake about it, will campaign as they always do...they will spread fear, they will spread lies and they will make billions in promises we know they will never keep. Sadly, after 12 years in office, that's all they have left. Canadians know better and deserve better. We will offer hope, we will tackle the truth and we will make realistic commitments that we intend to honour."-Stephen Harper (Link)

Harper's speech writer deserves a promotion. And this guy needs to get fired.

And The Writ Dropped...

After 6pm.

It was a little eerie. Part of me wanted to rip down some stairs and flick on a television to watch the lap dogs in Parliament do their job and vote like good trained seals. The other part of me could care less, especially since the vote was a forgone conclusion. Somethings are just more important.

The results of the non-confidence vote in the Party of Paul Martin?
171 YAY. 133 NAY.

And hence we are now “officially” in election mode. While pre-Today, we were in quasi-election mode. In quasi-election mode the Supreme Leader Paul Martin can spend billions a day without anyone to stop him. In quasi-election mode the trained seals in Parliament can send out political advertising in the guise of official government business to their constituents. In quasi-election mode Elections Canada can drag it’s heals in sending out campaign returns. In quasi-election mode Canadians are inundated by polls that mean nothing.

I ended up eating, no giving a flying fart who, what, where and why anything was happening. It all didn’t matter. It all doesn’t matter.

This will be the most pivotal election that Canadian politics has seen for years. This is a climax moment in Canadian history. If Harper’s Conservatives win, Same Sex marriage will be gone assuming Harper keeps his word – if he doesn’t the whole Conservative movement could unravel apart. A Harper win will also virtually destroy any hope of the Euthanasia bill from coming to fruition. A Harper win will mean that social engineering being foisted on Canadians in the guise of National Child Care program will be stopped. The Hate Crimes bill may be amended to protect Christians. In short, a Harper win will stall the social Liberal movement’s anti-life pro-culture of death jihad in its tracks.

It will stall. A reversal would take developments I just don’t quite frankly see happening yet.

If Harper’s Conservatives loose, the culture of death will steam ahead. I can’t even predict where the country will be in 10 years. Harper will resign. The Conservatives will have a leadership race, and the next leader will start a witch hunt against Social Conservatives in the party. The separatists in Quebec could use this as an excuse to have another referendum. The right, if they manage to stay united, will no doubt face a strong challenge from a Western separatist movement. This country will be fractionalized more than ever.

But it all doesn’t matter. Because this election, from what I’ve been seeing, won’t discuss any of that. There will be no issues in this election campaign. This election will come and go and hardly anyone will probably notice. Because what this election will come down to is the campaign.

Everyone knows it will be the most negative campaign ever. The Conservatives won’t take the high ground this time around. They did that last time, and the people Harper is surrounding himself with come from a school of thought I think that see that as a mistake to be nice. And the Liberals have never been shy to take the low ground snake like political strategy.

No, it’ll come down to whether or not the Liberals can demonize Harper and the Conservatives enough to scare people away from them. It’ll come down to how much Harper can hammer at the Corruption drum. It’ll come down to whose attack ads are better. It’ll come down to who can dig up better dirt. It’s about marketing. It’s about salesmanship. It’ll come down to complete and utter nonsense.

Isn’t it great that the future of the Dominion rests in a rugged popularity contest? It’s like competing brands of toothpaste… That’s all they are: toothpaste…It’s sickening, but it’s the truth.

Liberal Canuck: Bush Is Plotting Intergallactic War!

It would be funny, it it weren't true. Because it is, it makes it so, so very sad.
On September 25, 2005, in a startling speech at the University of Toronto that caught the attention of mainstream newspapers and magazines, Paul Hellyer, Canada’s Defence Minister from 1963-67 under Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prime Minister Lester Pearson, publicly stated: "UFOs, are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head."

Mr. Hellyer went on to say, "I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something."
...
Hellyer warned, "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning. He stated, "The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide." (link)(Via)(Emphasis Added)

Let's put aside the whole "UFO's are real" thing for a second. Let's put aside that this guy seems just plain loony. Let's put aside my immediate bias against him because he's a Liberal. Let's also put aside my deep embarrasement that this guy is a Canuck.

All of that aside there is something that deeply disturbs me about this press release: these guys seem to be siding with the Aliens.
By “ETs,” Mr. Hellyer and these organizations mean ethical, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that may now be visiting Earth.

Ok. Let's assume these guys are right. These aliens are secretly coming to earth. They have been for years. They've been abducting people. All of this done with no one knowing about it...

How do they know for sure that these guys are peaceful and ethical? We're the Indians, they're the Europeans. I'm sorry, but ethically speaking, I'm thinking that an advanced good natured race would leave us alone and let us be. That way they don't take the risk that they could do what the Europeans did to the Indians.

Infact, I would take it as a sign of bad things if an alien species were abducting people in secret and sporadically popping in randomn areas... I would call that a prelude to invasion. If they were really advanced, they would recognize how uncivilized we are, and would give us time to mature.

Why do we always assume that the Aliens are good natured? Why do we always assume that a more advanced race, technologically, would neccessarily be a more ethical race?

Just look at how much more advanced we are as a race right now... With all this new technology, we feel it completely ethical to tamper with life in cloning and abortion. And to top it all off, we have a revival of eugenics happening in the guise of Euthenasia. A more advanced race is a more Ethical race? I don't think so.

Moonbattery says it better than I ever could.

How Paul Martin Runs The Liberal Party

OTTAWA -- Liberal Party brass are under fire from rank-and-file Grits and Ukrainian-Canadians, who accuse them of rigging the nomination process to crown a preferred star candidate in a west Toronto riding. (link)

To say Paul Martin isn't behind this, is like saying he knew nothing about the Sponsorship Scandal, or that Paul and Jean were always the best of pals.... My eye.

The Supreme Leader of the Paul Martin Party, has made it his top priority since the beginning to keep a solid iron grip on the lowly peasant class of the Liberal organization. Everything is Paul Martin owned and operated. Nothing is outside of his influence or his Dictatorial control by the looks of it.

Of course this isn't news. Paul Martin took control of the Liberal Party in this "democratic" way. In fact he was so "democratic" that his sole opponent for the leadership he had, who barely mustered to get 8% support, was "democratically" chased out of politics by an ally of his who was "democratically" taking over her riding.

If this is how he runs the Liberal Party, how is he running the government of this country? Oh yah... I forgot... He's running it the EXACT SAME WAY.

Falcon Withdrawal...

SpaceX's maiden flight of it's Falcon I rocket has been delayed into a probable December launch...
SpaceX launch officials initially set a four-hour launch window for todayÂ’s Falcon 1 flight.

Poor weather caused a one-hour delay early in the countdown, though an incorrectly set valve on a liquid oxygen fuel fill tank led to a longer hiatus that eventually prompted SpaceX officials to extend their launch window.

But the loss of liquid oxygen – which boils away during launch preparations and must be replenished regularly – was too great, SpaceX officials said, adding that a main engine computer glitch also caused enough concern to reschedule the mission. (link)

I've been delaying a response to this whole situation for a day now. I guess somewhere in the back of my head I must've been figuring I could will Falcon to magically take off from the launch pad in spite of every sense of reality that I have.

First the flight was scheduled for Friday. Excitement builds in anticipation of a launch that could spur a radical reduction in the costs of rocket launches. Then a delay. A little annoyance, and a lot of bubble bursting. Now an seemingly extravagant delay to mid-December.

I guess I'm going through Falcon withdrawal. Maybe deep down I was having fantasies about Elon Munsk blasting his behind into the cold dark unknown like Buck Rogers an average run of the mill day. Of course it'll probably take decades for routine commercial space travel to start happening. And this flight wasn't going to be taking Elon Munsk nowhere, but stupid humans have a way of getting ahead of themselves... And somewhere in my subconscious I'm betting I was getting way to far ahead myself.

Now that the jolt of reality has snapped some sense into me you'd figure I stop with the dreaming and move on... Why is it all I can think about is an early Christmas present in mid-December? Do I need help?

Delayed?

Stupid friggin' SMDC... I was looking forward to reading live blog updates today on SpaceX's flight... Now what am I supposed to do with my free time? Work?
From : SpaceX News
Reply-To : "SpaceX News"
Sent : November 24, 2005 8:08:29 PM
To : [Removed]
Subject : Falcon 1 Launch Delayed by Army Range


Falcon 1 Launch Delayed by Army Range

In order to facilitate preparations for a missile defense launch, the Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) has bumped the SpaceX Falcon 1 maiden flight from its officially scheduled launch date of 1 p.m. California time (9 p.m. GMT) on November 25. The new launch time is 1 p.m. California time (9 p.m. GMT) on November 26.

---Elon---

Everything's his top priority...

Last spring, Kilgour exploited his key position as an independent MP in a minority Parliament to pressure Martin into sending a military mission to the Sudanese region of Darfur.

Kilgour told media this month that, out of 100 Canadian advisers promised, only three have been sent to Darfur.

"Martin ended up doing nothing substantive at all," he said. "The prime minister will always agree with the last person he spoke to.

"Everything is his 'absolute priority,' but in the end he stands for nothing." (link)(via)

That's what the Tories refrain on Martin should be: Everything's his top priority. Mr. Dithers has no position on a darn thing until he decides at the last minute. If the Tories want to launch attack ads at Martin, they should start by showcasing his Dithering nature. Have a campaign commercial that just repeats over and over clips of him saying "this is a critical priority"... "this is of vital importance"... "this government considers this a top priority."

Mr. Dithers can't even make up his mind when it comes to whether or not he's an economic conservative or not, going on a $20 billion dollar pre-election spending spree designed to get him more votes... But wait a minute wasn't the cupboard bare 4 months ago, and weren't you the prudent one, telling the opposition that we shouldn't be irresponsible by spending money we don't have? Apparently money materializes in Ottawa spontaneously when an election is around the corner...There is so much juicyness to that line of attack.

Even on SSM he's a dithering, beying first a devout Catholic in line with Catholic teaching, and then changing his mind...


The resemblance is staggering...

Space Captain Face!



"Who doesn't have a space program these days? I mean, don't, like, the Italians have a space program?"(link(Click On Space Program))(Via)
...
"Where are the hot looking 60's girls?"

Where indeed Strong Bad... Where indeed...

Liberal Strategy 101

This was a huge leak if I ever saw one:

Meanwhile, a lobbyist for a communications company told Ontario Liberal MPs at their caucus meeting yesterday to expect a negative campaign both from the opposition and the news media.

Gotta thank the Liberal mole that leaked the events in a private caucus meeting. I would be steaming mad right now if I were a Martin loyalist.

Charles Bird is a lobbyist for Bell Globemedia (owner of The Globe and Mail and CTV) and is the Ontario campaign chairman for the federal Liberals. He told Ontario MPs the electorate is "very volatile" and warned that "it's going to be a very negative campaign."
...
The Liberals ran a negative campaign in 2004, painting Mr. Harper as a scary, right-wing politician.

Mr. Bird also warned MPs to expect that in the first few weeks of the campaign the news media will be negative toward them in an effort to turn the election into a horse race. He told them to "be careful" about how they spend their money ". . . because you'll get a greater bang for your buck post Jan. 2." According to the insider, he warned, he warned them "if you can, hold off spending until then." (link)

And now we know what the internal Liberal strategy is in the next election. Each MP of course will make up his own mind as to wether or not to follow the Ontario Campaign Chair's friendly advice of course. However, that advice is meant to complement the National campaign, and I'm betting most MP's will follow along.

I also makes sense that the Liberals would save up everything for that final week.

See what Byrd is describing is pretty much what happened in the 2004 election. The first couple weeks of the campaign Harper came off shinning, and the Liberals were treated relatively badly by the press. I remember even reading a couple nice exposes from the Left wing media on Harper which really surprised me.

This helps to explain why the campaign easily imploded in the final week of the campaign. Of course there were things the Conservatives did to precipitate the disaster like Ralph Klein's meanderings on wanting to bring in Two-tier healthcare. In the end I never thought that's what did Harper in. There was the press release that many said claimed Paul Martin supported Child pornography. The press release was just a simple release that just had the voting record of Paul Martin on every bill put before parliament that tried to restrict Child Pornography. Let's just say the voting record looked bad. That's not what the media latched on to however. They latched on to the headline "Paul Martin Supports Child PornographY?" I've heard joked that it shoud've been "Paul Martin Supports Child Pornography!"

The truth is that Martin's voting record on the issue was atrocious. He should've had to respond to that. Afterall it wasn't like there was any implicit claim made there, just the question was asked. It's up to Paul Martin to explain himself. That unfortunately didn't happen, and instead the media turned on Harper in that last week inexplicably.

This explains it. The media was friendly to Harper to begin with only to make it seem like a horse race. Which means we can expect the same the next time around.

Everybody loves to be a bleachers coach, so here's what I think the Conservative counter-strategy should be: ingnore all of this crap.

Run hard and fast. Candidates should be stomping... no storming the hustings meeting as many people as they can in those first few weeks of the campaign. They should raise money, get volunteers to sign their lives away, and get ready for the hailstorm that will come in that last week.

That last week. Where Liberal attack ads will rip through Harper calling him anything and everything they possibly can. They will say he has a hidden agenda, then he will have a clear "extremist" agenda, and then he'll be an evil reptilian alien from the Planet Zorlon for all I know...

Forget all of that crap. Get ready for the barrage. Get ready and fight like mad from day one. And hopefully, while the Liberals are sitting back waiting it out, we'll be able to meet enough people, shake enough hands, and kiss enough babies, that they can throw everything at Harper and nothing will stop the looming tide.

The day I thought would never come: I agree with Peter Mackay

HALIFAX - Days before an expected election call, Premier Ralph Klein said the country will probably be left with another Liberal minority, largely because Stephen Harper won't be able to muster enough support in Ontario.
...
Klein said the expected outcome is due partly to the perception that Harper, the federal Tory leader, is seen to be "too much on the right" in Ontario, where he contends that voters don't tend to change their voting habits.
...
Klein's prediction for the pending election clearly ticked off Tory deputy leader Peter MacKay.

"He said he was going to be helpful. This is not helpful," MacKay said in Ottawa.

When asked by reporters how to deal with persistent internal disputes and candid remarks by politicians like Klein, MacKay said bluntly: "Duct tape."(link)

Alberta: Please help Canada and Stephen Harper. Fire that idiot. He's a Liberal in disguise. He did this in the last election too. He either doesn't want Harper to win, or is completely out of his mind. Please, I begging you, get a new Tory leader and quick!

So-Con Squadron



Alright. I've been wanting for a while to come up with blog roll of so-called Canadian Social Conservative bloggers. That would be Bloggers that are pro-life, and are against Same-Sex-Marriage in the broadest terms. Social Conservatives believe that Freedom of Religion doesn't mean Freedom from Religion. Social Conservatives can be religious, although not all are. Social Conservatives mostly reject post 60's era left wing social engineering, and the meddling of the State to make things more "progressive."

So, if you have a blog, and you are Socially Conservative, and you want in email me at jverheyd-at-engmail-dot-uwaterloo-dot-ca. Make sure to include your blog's name and your blog URL.

Oh and yah, you're going to need the code for your site:

If you're already on the blog roll, it'd be nice if you add the code to your sidebar - or wherever else you want to add it. And if I haven't added you, don't take it personally, I'm a busy man and probably over looked you, or I just didn't know for sure if you were a So-Con or not.

And I guess the button aint the best. My photoshop abilities appparently aint so hot, so if you have a better logo please advise. I was thinking something with an actual squadron seal with the words "So-Con Squadron" on it...

Liberal AssTronauts

There is word that former astronaut and Canadian Space Agency President Marc Garneau may be on a Liberal Party ticket in the next federal election. (link)

Garneau does not get the ire of my disdain for the most part of Canadian Asstronauts. Chris Hadfield has either given me such bad impression or really does deserve to be in the Asstronaut hall of shame. You see Hadfield believes that he earned the right to go into space. He earned the right to have taxpayers foot the bill for his thirty million dollar joy ride in space so he can play around with his robot arm toy.

But let's not kid ourselves and give Hadfield a greater role on his missions than he had, 'cuz, for the most part, Canadian Asstronauts are told not to touch a thing, and are given mediocre tasks on any Space Shuttle mission. They are treated like lowlife Canucks, that only hitched a ride because of a robot toy that some company makes... But now I'm just ranting.

Garneau, to me seems like a pretty nice guy. Hasn't said anything too weird. He's all gun ho about getting Canada into NASA's VSE thingy. Though I get the distinct impression he has little appreciation for any of the ideas that have come out of the alt-space movement or the X-prize. He's just a little oblivious, and doesn't seem to really care about that stuff.

If he knew better, maybe the policy of the CSA might change for the better. Instead of piggy backing on the Yanks all the time, why couldn't we try using the money we have to hold government sponsorsed Prizes like the X-Prize? Hold a Prize for the first sub orbital system built on the cheap in the Dominion! We could spur tech development in Canada and get a real space program going that would get real average everyday Canadians in space. It would certainly be better money spent than what we get out of it now. But all of that is just a pipedream.

His running for the Liberals pretty much confirms my theory that most Canadian Asstronauts are Liberals. Trying to be a Canadian Asstronaut without believing in certain Liberal principles seems to be an impossibility sometimes.

But for the life of me I can't understand why he would want to get involved now... The Liberals are drowning in corruption, Quebec has turned into a Liberal wasteland, and he would be starting into a campaign late, with no funds, or organization...

I guess that hole "Head of the Canadian Space Agency" thing can't be as good of a job as some think it is...

Addendum: I'm told repetitively that Hadfield is a nice guy. Why does he think he deserved a darn thing then? His free ticket to space was a gift by Canadian taxpayers. It was based on a selection process that had as much to do with talent as it had to do with politics. He is a very qualified person, but that comment he made about him earning the right to go into space 2 years ago really annoyed me.

"...is it wrong that my initial reaction upon reading this headline was 'good!' ..."

Court hears of alleged plot to assassinate Martin

Let me be clear about the title: that is a quote. I did not say that myself... And it is a very hillarious knee slapping funny quote at that. So if you're a hippie don't shave your armpits long haired dope smoking Liberal keep your pants on and hold back on the hate mail because I'm just making a funny at the Supreme Leader (Paul Martin) himself. The identity of the individual in question that made that quote is being kept secret for their own protection...
A former police informant testified in an Ontario court on Tuesday that there was a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Paul Martin when he was the federal finance minister. (link)

Now several BC Martin organizers have had some links to some less than legal drug trafficking... I bring that up only because the informant was involved in the same type of thing. Wonder if there is a connection?

And if not who ordered the hit? Could it be a certain little guy from Shawinigan we know?

It's Now Official: PETA Has Gone Insane


What can I say?

h/t NealeNews

Am I the only one who notices stuff like this?...

After serving two terms on the Human Resources Development Canada Board of Referees, she was upset that Brison had led her to believe she was a shoo-in for the reappointment she ultimately did not get.

During a chance encounter at Acton's Restaurant in Wolfville, N.S., McGrath aired her frustration and advised Brison she would not support him in the next campaign.

"He got very upset. He looked at me and said, 'Well I've got something to tell you. I'm going to be the MP for a very, very long time, and you can kiss my ass,' " she recalled. "We were shocked and dumbfounded. This is a cabinet minister and there's supposed to be ethics in government. If he can't take some heat from the people of Canada, he shouldn't be in cabinet."(link)

Am I the only one disturbed by the fact that this woman, this liberal, gave her support to Brison only to pull it away because she didn't get the plush appointment she wanted? So what if Brison led her on... The promise of giving cozy government jobs to loyal Liberals isn't a right.

In fact, isn't that sort of thinking what started the whole AdScam mess in the first place? Are all Liberals Liberal just because of the payback they expect to get?

I don't know what to be more disgusted about, the fact that Brison's making these not-really-but-kinda-promises, or the fact that we have a whole government of people like this one woman running the country.

And this lady has the gall to talk about Ethics?

h/t NealeNews

What was Bush thinking?

GB went to China yesterday. Before he came, he talked about the need for greater Freedom in China. He talked in Japan specifically about the need for religious Freedom in China. That was the right thing to do.

That's what he was supposed to do.

Though I can't understand what posessed who, to do what, where, that lead to what I saw on the news last night. Here was George Bush. He was in China. He was talking about the need for more religious Freedom. And he was worshiping in a State Sponsorshed Church.
The president and First Lady Laura Bush attended a morning service at one of Beijing's handful of state-sanctioned Protestant churches, Gangwashi, accompanied by a U.S. evangelist, Luis Palau.

"He wanted to set a framework for his discussions then about religious freedom and human rights with his Chinese counterparts," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said of the visit.

The overwhelming majority of Chinese Christians belong to illegal churches - Protestant "house" churches or underground Catholic congregations loyal to the Pope.

The communist authorities only tolerate a "patriotic" Protestant organization, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), and a Catholic equivalent that does not recognize papal authority.
(link)

What a propaganda victory for the Communist government who has been fighting an agressive war against the underground Churches in China for years.

You see in China, the government doesn't like the idea of Churches not controlled by the state. So they made it illegal for the Catholic Church to exist in any form in China except through an official State Sponsored church that is loyal to the Communist government. Though there are those that resist. The Vatican makes appointments in secret. And there are many other Christians that refuse to go to State Sponsored churches, and celebrate mass in secret. They are part of Underground Church that independent estimates size to be up to 100 million.

This news article downplays the persecution of Catholics, which I don't necessarily find appropriate considering that according to some estimates close to a fifth of the Christian population in China is Catholic.

Let's not say that the persecution of one Christian denomination is any worse or less than any other. That is just petty.

But what was Bush thinking? He wants to send out a message about religious freedom, and to do that he appears to be endorsing the same State Sponsored churches that are the problem in the first place?
Bush made it clear when speaking outside after the service that he had found the worship genuine.

"The spirit of the Lord is very strong inside your church," he told pastor Du Fengying, whose sermon he had listened to via a translation headset.

No doubt there are probably many genuine believers in those Churches. But that is not the point. The point is, that the Chinese government just got footage of President George Bush - the leader of the Free world - appearing to endorse State Sponsored churches.

A few days ago I read an article about Chinese Catholics being rounded up and arrested for no reason at all. Apparently this is a common occurence before an international visit happens. The State apparently is afraid that Catholics in particular will try to get messages out through international delegations.

If I were a Chinese Christian, after all the persecution I had seen, and I saw what Bush did, I would no doubt be steaming mad.

The Maiden Flight...

The Falcon I rocket is about to make it's maiden flight from Omelek Island in the West Pacific. It's a small rocket. Created by a small company called SpaceX. This company is funded by muti-millionaire IT famed nutso named Elon Musk.

It'll happen next Friday the 25th at 1pm, God willing.

Frequently, I just rant not really explaining what the heck I'm talking about. Today I'm going to try to actually explain why this launch is as earth shattering as it is.

Elon Musk, and SpaceX represent a hope to most space nutsos such as myself. You see, at a certain point in most space nutsos lives, they realise that the propaganda being spewed out by NASA at a mile a minute about people living on the Moon in 20 years is a load of horse manure. This tends to be a very sobering, madening, and depressing revelation. It comes when you're that bright eyed kid that reads that promise in a space picture book when you're 8, and then wait 15 years and see no results. The only thing you do see is another promise that it'll happen in 20 years for sure this time.

The truth is, that when NASA talks about going back to the moon, for the most part, the bearaucrats mean sending a select few, planting a flag, and then going back home to celebrate for 30 years. That's what happened after Apollo. That's when reality sinks in: NASA will never get humanity to the stars.

It shouldn't come as a surprise. I have no doubt that most people working at NASA are good people that really want space flight for the common man, and not for the select few. However, they work under the ever guise of the state. The state is by it's very nature more interested in politics and power than anything else. The only reason why NASA got to the moon, in my opinion, was because the State was freaked out at the possibility of the Russians getting there first and claiming it all for themselves.

What does a space nutso do then? He researches to try to find that way to get us going in the Buck Rogers direction. He finds that the real barrier of regular people going into space is the high costs required to launch cargo into orbit. Once you've reached orbit, you've attained half the energy required to go anywhere in the universe. Where do most of those launch costs come from? Insurance, and infracstructure. The fuel is a minor component. Then you do some more research and find out that once launch costs go below $1,000 a pound widespread access to space should be possible. You do some of your own calculations and find out, that based on what we know, the costs of access to space are pretty close to that number.

Then you find out that NASA's costs reach $16,000 per pound with the Space Shuttle. Private launch contractors like Boeing charge about $8,000 per pound. Then you start scratching your head...Why? Because it's government money. Government money grows on trees apparently. Big aerospace companies, you find, are addicted to government cash. They probably are making a heavy profit that no one knows about. NASA, on the overall, doesn't even care about making a profit so they just spend and spend and spend...

Then you hear about the X-Prize, and the idea that maybe, just maybe, the only way to get regular people into space is if private small companies get involved and compete. Say create a free market in space? Like a market for space tourism? I think so.

So the reason why this flight is so important, is that space nutsos like Elon Munsk are doing just that. He's created his own company, and built rockets that have launch costs at a fraction of what the big government money addicted big guys have been selling. This flight, if successful, will mean that the little Elon did it.

If he can do it, more will follow. Costs will drop. And the cause of getting my behind into space just became a heck of a lot more probable.

Not Excited...

Robot Guy is stoked about SpaceDev's DreamChaser:
... will be doing manned suborbital flight tests in 2008, and will have manned test flights to orbit in 2010. Compare this with NASA's four-person CEV, which will be doing its first orbital flights in 2014.

So I peruse through the linked announcement all stocked myself until I read this little problemo:
"Since then, national focus has changed to a Shuttle replacement, and we believe that our new SpaceDev Dream Chaser(TM) vehicle concept is ideal for both suborbital and orbital applications. However, funding is needed if we are going to be able to pursue this exciting new concept."[Emphasis Added]

Translation: NO MULA = NO DREAMCHASER. This is what I like to call a Mula Call. They want cash. They want investors. They need a Paul Allen, or a Sir Richard Branson to fund their little commercial adventure into suborbital space. So they make a press release and try to get some attention hoping that some rich bugger will spontaneously leap out of his seat upon reading the news story and donate from his bottomless pocket to their cause. Paul Allen did it for SpaceShipOne. He gave 30 mil to the enterprise of building the first private space ship.

It would be cool if they could beat NASA in it's CEV development, but those dates they give seem to be contingent on that ever important Mula. Until they get the rich bugger, like every other one of these suborbital tourism start-ups, they aint got nothing. So I'm not excited.

Seems to me like DreamChaser, is a dream that they are a chasing... Sorry I couldn't come up with anything better than that line.

The Roman Catholic Underground...

Via Stupidus:
Fr Yang Jianwei, a priest of the unofficial Church in China was arrested on the afternoon of 12 November together with 10 seminarians, including four from Baoding (Hebei). The arrest was carried out by around 20 public security officials in Xushui City in Hebei province. The reasons for the arrest are not yet known.
...
Chinese personalities consulted by AsiaNews surmise a link between recent arrests of Catholics and the upcoming visit to Beijing of American President, George W. Bush (from 19 to 21 November). Traditionally, the authorities tighten control on Catholics in the lead-up to events featuring the presence of well-known public figures and several journalists. They do this to prevent Catholics from dispatching messages, information or petitions to the press, which could embarrass the government and put it in a difficult position.(link)

Still want state controlled religion? Remember this guy?
OTTAWA, July 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Just as Senate approaches the final vote on the gay 'marriage' bill, C-38, Canada's national public radio CBC Radio has aired a commentary by a retired professor from the Royal Military College calling for state control over religion, specifically Catholicism.
...
Ferguson continued, "Of course the Vatican wouldn't like the changes, but they would come to accept them in time as a fact of life in Canada. Indeed I suspect many clergy would welcome the external pressure."(link)

"May we live long and die out"

“The hopeful alternative to the extinction of millions of species of plants and animals is the voluntary extinction of one species: Homo sapiens... us,” Knight stated, according to the VHEMT web site. “Each time another one of us decides to not add another one of us to the burgeoning billions already squatting on this ravaged planet, another ray of hope shines through the gloom.”(link)

Agent Smith has gotten out of the Matrix apparently.
Hall and his colleagues found that a single new American born in the 1990s will be responsible, over his or her life, for 22 million pounds of liquid waste and 2.2 million pounds each of solid waste and atmospheric waste. He or she will have a lifetime consumption of 4,000 barrels of oil, 1.5 million pounds of minerals and 62,000 pounds of animal products that will entail the slaughter of 2,000 animals.

Are they actually saying that human life is not worth 2,000 animals? The waste stuff doesn't sound so good, but I'm hoping that these guys have at least a higher moral standard than Hitler.

'Cause Hitler was a vegetarian. Hitler believed that killing animals was immoral. No I am not joking.
"I really do love kids," she continues. (Thompson and Knight say they were raised in large, happy families.) "I know it might seem odd for someone who really likes kids to have this stance on breeding -- women are mothering, nurturing people, and I definitely have that in me. But women in this society feel a lot of pressure to have babies, and I would like to see more people expressing that by adopting instead." (link)

Look, Now maybe I'm the one on the hallucigens, and I'm all hoped up on weird hippie crap, because one of us must be for any of this to make any sense. Women feel pressured to have babies? Are these the same women that continously have lower and lower birth rates? Are these the same women that are continously using the pill more and more despite signs of some adverse health effects? Are these the same women being encouraged to have abortions every year? Are these the same women continously being encouraged to wait longer and longer to have children in favour of their career?

We must be living in two different worlds or something lady.

Bush Lied?

Via Transterrestrial Musings:
The Bush Doctrine is not chiefly about WMD and never was. Like FDR's vision, it balances democracy, security and morality. Still, the media and anti-Bush partisans have been bizarrely unmoved by the revelations of Hussein's killing fields, his torture chambers for tots and democracy's tangible progress in the Middle East.

If Bush succeeds — still a big if — the painful irony for Bush's critics is that he will go down in history as a great president, even if he lied, while they will take their paranoia to their graves. [Emphasis Added](link)

You know I'm not that big of a fan of Bush. I didn't agree with the war in Iraq 'cuz I thought it was none of our business. There was no moral clarity to the war whatsoever from what I could see. I guess if I were living in the US I'd be a Ron Paul Republican. Though don't hold me to that. And to be honest, I understand why Americans voted for him. The other guy leaved much to be desired.

Though putting that to the side for the moment. I usually, akwardly, find myself defending Bush on one point all the time: that he lied. I never believed for a moment that Bush deceived the American people, because that would make him evil. I think he's misguided, and was probably duped, but calling someone a liar requires a little something called evidence. Like - oh I don't know - maybe a politician blatenly breaking a promise, and admitting to the fact that he is breaking the promise like we have all too much experience up here in the Great White North? Trust me, the Dominion has more problems than the Republic, despite what some radical Anti-Americans think.

I find it hard to believe that I could be wrong about the War when I read stories like these from the other side. How can a politician deceiving people be a good thing? How can anyone possibly claim that a lie, that an untruth, is a good thing? Then tell me your name so I'll never vote for you.

Too Cool For School II: Lunar Lawnmower


Via Stupidus:
"I'm one of those weird people who like to stick things in ordinary kitchen microwave ovens to see what happens," Taylor confessed to several hundred scientists at the Lunar Exploration Advisory Group (LEAG) conference at NASA's Johnson Space Center last month.
...
Apropos to the moon, he once put a small pile of lunar soil brought back by the Apollo astronauts into a microwave oven. And he found that it melted "lickety-split," he said, within 30 seconds at only 250 watts.
...
This observation has inspired Taylor to imagine all kinds of machinery for sending to the moon that could fuse lunar dust into useful solids.

"Picture a buggy pulled behind a rover that is outfitted with a set of magnetrons," that is, the same gizmo at the guts of a microwave oven. "With the right power and microwave frequency, an astronaut could drive along, sintering the soil as he goes, making continuous brick down half a meter deep--and then change the power settings to melt the top inch or two to make a glass road," he suggested.

"Or say that you want a radio telescope," he continued. "Find a round crater and run a little microwave 'lawnmower' up and down the crater's sides to sinter a smooth surface. Hang an antenna from the middle--voila, instant Arecibo!" he exclaimed, referring to the giant 305-meter-diameter radio telescope in Puerto Rico formed out of a natural circular valley.
...
But the idea has promise: Sintered rocket landing pads, roads, bricks for habitats, radiation shielding--useful products and dust abatement, all at once.

"The only limit," says Taylor, "is imagination."(link)

Now this is something usefull. That's why I'm thinking NASA will screw it up somehow. Unless somehow JPL gets this little project. In which case the only real limit will be how much NASA sucks blood out of JPL.

Where's Scotty when you need him?

Via Curmudgeons:
In life, James Doohan was the "Star Trek" engineer who worked miracles on the Enterprise, but a rocket meant to blast his remains into space has engine trouble.

A Falcon One rocket was to lift the ashes of Doohan, who played engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott aboard the fictional Starship Enterprise, into space next month but the launch has been delayed at least until February, organizers said Tuesday. (link)

Ironic to say the least. I have to say though that I want to get my own keister up there with a beating heart and not as some cremated dust pile. Though I guess the thought is a nice one to do for the Scotty/Doohan.

Little depressed 'cuz it seems like the much heavily hyped first Falcon launch is once again delayed. Jon Goff has something to say about it.

Who are they kidding?

Via First Things:
"We hope in part to correct the inaccurate perception that Planned Parenthood and its mission are irreligious and anti-Christian," Bowman wrote.(link)

Inaccurate? Inaccurate? Are you going to tell me that this isn't Anti-Christian?

Still Lamenting...

tdr says:
Those who wish humans were spreading through the heliosphere faster than we are have lamented NASA's drive into the cul de sac of lower Earth orbit since the demise of Apollo. Billions and billions of dollars have been spent on flying the outdated Space Shuttle to what many believe is a boondoggle in the sky, the International Space Station. Yet the following tidbit of fact from a newsletter out of MIT suggests that the ISS may not have been a complete waste.

Really? A use for the ISS besides studying dead frog legs and how old men sag in space? Do tell!
If humans are going to successfully spread into the universe and make a home of it, we are going to need practice living and working in space. For all of the space station's faults, the ISS has provided a home for humans in space. Not the first, there were the Salyuts, Skylab and Mir before the ISS. In fact, humans have lived in lower Earth orbit nearly continuously since 1986 thanks to the Russians.

Yes but what crucially important piece of vital earth shatering information have we learned in those 20 years?

Let me awnser that question for you: nothing. Nada. Silch. Zero. Bupkis. Rien.

When they went to the Moon did NASA officials stop themselves and say "If humans are successfully going to go the Moon we are going to need practice living and working in space first?" Maybe. But I bet their jaws would've dropped if someone told them they should do 20 years of it first. That wasn't in the cards. That wasn't necessary. And neither is it now in my opinion.

When is enough enough? We know humans can live and work in space. We know we can do it. What we need to do is break the barrier of the high costs of the access to LEO that has been a ball and chain on humanity for the past thirty years.

Nice try tdr... But we're going to have to agree to disagree, 'cuz I'm still lamenting about the white elephant in the sky...

Addendum: This post came out slightly more bitter than I had intended. I just want to make it clear that it's not directed at tdr, it's directed at the issue at hand.

When being born is a crime...

A disabled woman is suing her doctor for being born:
Lawyers for Alexia Harriton, 24, who needs round-the-clock care, made the application yesterday to the Australian High Court, arguing that her mother's doctor was negligent in failing to diagnose rubella infection early in the pregnancy.

Lawyers said that if her mother, Olga Harriton, had known of the extent of the disabilities, she would have had an abortion.

I don't know what's worse. The fact that this woman feels that her life is not worth living, or that her mother told her that had she known about the extent of her disabilities she would have aborted her like she was nothing.
"We are here for Alexia, for justice," Mrs Harriton said. "That's all it is."

Justice? True justice is saving someone. Since when is being born a crime that someone needs to be saved from? Have we really descended this low in society that the disabled no longer feel that they have value, and are degenerates?

No one is more equal than anyone else. Just because someone is disabled doesn't mean they have any less value than anyone else. They may not be able to run a marathon, but the faculties and talents they have are just as valuable and have just as much meaning as my own or anyone else's.

And they don't deserve to be aborted.

Parrish The Thought

"They feel an election with the same results will perhaps settle the opposition parties down to governing instead of the daily posturing which goes on now. I believe another minority will force leadership changes and renewal of both parties," she said. "Heaven help the Liberals if the Tories select a truly progressive conservative leader. They may have to counter with a more Liberal leader of their own. There should also be an accommodation for progressive minority governments with four-year fixed election dates and a two-thirds majority vote required to bring down a government between those fixed dates."

Former Liberal, now independent Liberal annoyance Carolyn Parrish is at it again with her stupidity... and her Liberalism... Maybe they go hand in hand.

First of all daily posturing is what Parliament is all about. It's a continous struggle for power, that keeps the government's feet to fire to keep it honest and accountable. People always scream about how there is a too much politics in parliament. Politics are supposed to be in Parliament. That's what parliament is all about.

Infact the only thing I worry about is when I stop hearing politics being screamed in Parliament. I get afraid when I don't hear people shouting over each other. I get a little panicky when I don't see people getting upset. Because it means that someone has cracked the wip so that everyone gets into line with the Supreme Leader.

But that's enough of that. And let's avoid the terrible thought of Parrish's that we elect someone as Conservative Leader that she would label as a "progressive." What Carolyn Parrish thinks is progressive is if every Conservative in the country were locked up in jail for re-education. A progressive Conservative leader to Parrish, is someone who's well... not conservative.

But all of a sudden Parrish has become a Democratic Reformer. I guess maybe we should call her a Reform-Liberal. Fixed election dates are a great idea. A 2/3rd majority so that Liberal hogs can stay permanently in power is not. And for her to even suggest that we make it easier for a government to stay in power is an affront to democracy. It should always be easier to bring down governments and prevent the passage of bills. An essential feature of free democracies is this idea that it should be difficult for bills to get passed. That way it will be difficult for people's rights to be violated and trampled on.

The honus should be on the government. Never the opposition. We should never trust the state. A healthy distrust for authority is always in order.

But Parrish is more than willing to give the Supreme Leader all the powers he wants, and now she wants to make it nearly impossible for anyone to even kick him out of office if he does something stupid.

Carolyn Parrish is the poster child for arrogance in Canadian politics.

The day we all take a break from bashing the armed forces...

What does Rememberance Day mean to me?

It's the lone day of the year when bands like Green Day stop insinuating that the only reason why people join the armed forces is because they are too poor.

It's the lone day of the year that I stop hearing about how sexist and racist soldiers are.

It's the lone day of the year that I see people walking around in military uniform proud to serve without the fear of being overtly looked down upon.

It's the lone day of the year that people stop talking about how joining the armed forces is wasting your life.

It's the lone day of the year when I stop hearing about how being a soldier is a sin.

It's the lone day of the year where people start thinking about how badly we treat our veterans of yesterday, and how badly we already treat the ones of the future.

It's the lone day of the year where soldiers can say prayers in public places, at designated times, and not fear being taken to task for it.

It's the lone day of the year when I watch movie and telivision productions where soldiers are revered as being human beings that served the fight for freedom.

It's the lone day of the year when I don't watch movie and telivision productions that portray soldiers as being mindless automatons, sex-crazy, and killing obsessed.

It's the lone day of the year when politicians on mass stop ignoring the armed forces.

It's the lone day of the year when people stop speaking about soldiers with distain, and instead speak with respect.

It's the lone day of the year when we don't hate soldiers.

I just heard a man on the radio today talk about Soldiers of the present, and not of the past. He started with the usual banter about how horrible past wars were. Though he said something that meant more. He said that "he'd like to believe that he had what it takes to do what today's soldiers do." Then he paused. "But I can't say for sure that I do."

Honesty. It's rare to things said honestly.

I don't know if I would have had what it took to do what those veterans did. I don't know if I have what it takes to do what soldiers of the free world do today, and see today.

But I'm thankfull for those that are willing to put their lives on the line for my own. And I'm thankfull that they put up with all the abuse we give them.

The Most Dangerous Anti-Communist

ROME, November 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Recently released documents from the former East German communist secret police, the Stasi, show that the future Pope Benedict XVI was under surveillance since the early 1970’s.

According to a report from a major German weekly paper, Bild am Sonntag, agents of the State Security Ministry, known as the Stasi, regarded the young German theology professor as one of the most dangerous anti-communists in Europe. Spies collected biographical details and tried to anticipate his moves.

The biggest trouble makers are always the biggest targets. I for one want to count myself in with the trouble makers.

How Many EU Members Are Anti-Catholic?

A whole wack of them:
Participants were particularly concerned about the role of the Catholic Church in countries with a strong Catholic identity. Maria Elena Valenicano Martinez-Orozco, a member of the European Parliament from Spain, spoke on "How to deal with the Catholic Church and reproductive rights." She also addressed why Spain had success "fighting conservative powers when it comes to homosexuality and abortion" and why "it is so much harder in Portugal".

Dr. Emmanuel D. Bezzina of Malta said, "It is a cruel world that we live in. Cruel because the Catholic Church is enshrined in the Maltese Constitution. Hence the power of the Catholic Church in Malta is tremendous. See for yourself, we could not even send one Maltese woman to speak here because had anyone come they would be terrified should publicity be given in Malta and they be seen as promoting abortion. . . . And we have an arrogant Prime Minister and an arrogant party in government who flirts with the Catholic Church."

The Big Bad Catholic Church apparently is such a concern to the meddlers in the European Union. Because we all know how the Pope forces every Catholic to show up to mass at gun point with his panzerpapal squad to enforce his edicts...

What Paul Martin's Henchmen Do In Their Spare Time....

Apparently, among other things, they send out emails on internal Liberal strategy on how they will use the "friendly media"...
The message was from Ruth Thorkelson, a long-time senior Paul Martin adviser who recently left as deputy chief of staff, and who says she is now helping MPs and candidates as a volunteer.

Her message, to Liberal MP Judi Longfield, outlined plans to leak to "a friendly media outlet" accusations that Tory candidates Jim Flaherty and John Baird are violating the Canada Elections Act.

So I'm willing to bet that that line of attack is now a no go for the Liberal war room. Then again "friendly media outlet"'s are by their very nature... friendly.

So the war room could put out an accusation calling Stephen Harper an alien and they problably could do a good run with the suckeroo.

How do we a happen to be finding this email? Apparently some poor shmuck used to have the domain infrastructure.ca which is very close to the government domain infrastructure.gc.ca. And hence the fun we now get to enjoy.
"What pushed me over the edge was the Thorkelson thing. That was too much for me. I don't want to see that crap and I don't like it, because it sounded underhanded."

"I don't like the way they do business that way. I guess I'm slightly influenced by the Gomery thing that's going on."

Thorkelson's briefing note says Flaherty and Baird, Tory members of the provincial legislature, are "flouting the intention of the Canadian Elections Act" because they are campaigning federally while remaining on the provincial payroll.

"It is also ethically unconscionable."

...

Thorkelson said she doesn't share Sadar's perception that her tactics are underhanded.

"I can't really comment on what this guy thinks of it, but civilians have a different view of politics than we do."

The emphasis was my own. "Perception?" Please, this is underhanded, it aint a matter of anyone's perception and their aint no moral relativism here either like there aint no where else.

And yes, civilians do have a mighty big different view of politics than you do sir. That's why they are the uncorrupted ones, and you... Ya you're a blood sucking scumbag (or at least that's what he's acting like).

Among other things that Paul Martin's henchmen do in their spare time involve making racist sexual jokes to each other, and gathering Young hooligan Liberals for "mega happy hours" at bars...

h/t to NealeNews

Brisonisms...

The not-so-honorable member representing Tory turncoats and shallow oppotunists everywhere Scott Brison pulled a Brison...
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - Nov. 4, 2005) - The Liberal Party has asked the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists to investigate the leader of the Opposition who was in contravention of the Lobbyist Registration Act when he was President of the National Citizen's Coalition (NCC) for 4 years between 1997 and 2001.
...
"It is disappointing that Mr. Harper will continue to use the moral high ground on ethical issues, including lobbying issues, when his own past is littered with examples of questionable if not illegal behaviour - and all this while heading one of the most extreme right-wing organizations in the entire country," says the Honourable Scott Brison, Minister of Public Works and Government Services. "Its clear that the leader of the opposition spent his time outside politics as an unregistered lobbyist."

Really? Or are the stinking rats trying to distract attention away from their stench? So, the Liberals made the accusation, and it was a bogus one, and the media reported it.

Then, when the Brison realises the fool that he is, retracts and apologizes:
Dear Mr. Nicholls:

Thank you for your letter dated today concerning my statement regardingthe NCC.

I wish to acknowledge that my statement was factually incorrect in two ways:

* I was in error to say that the NCC was charged six times with violations of the Elections Act.

* It was premature to say that there was a contravention ofthe Lobbyist Registration Act. In order to resolve and clarify thenature of these activities, I have asked the Registrar of Lobbyists toinvestigate. I was provided with incorrect information, but I accept responsibilityfor my statements. I regret my errors, and I withdraw those statements categorically.

Please accept my apology.

Sincerely, Scott Brison

Does the media report it? No. I can't find any main media outlet reporting this. Instead they lay silent, while I find out about this apology from a blogger...

Liberal Post-Gomery Spin Fizzles...

Or how else would you explain this...
The Ipsos-Reid poll for Global Television put support for the Liberals at 31 percent, down from the 38 percent they enjoyed before the report was released on Tuesday. The opposition Conservatives were at 30 percent, up four points.

The poll findings indicate that if an election were held now, the result would be a deadlock, with no one party anywhere near winning a majority of seats in Parliament.
...
The Conservatives insisted that Martin -- who was finance minister at the time of the scandal -- should resign. But Martin said he was sticking to plans to call an election within 30 days of the final report of the inquiry, due February 1.

I'd like to think that Canadians have seen past all the propaganda dished out by all sides on the Gomery affair... But they problably haven't. 38% of those same polled people still believed that the Liberals should be re-elected.

When a government is this corrupt we even bother to ask the question? At this point the Marijuana party would be more trustworthy than those Lieberals in Ottawa...

The spin though I guess in a sense did work: the Liberals are still above 30%. I guess they've kind of retracted back to their core support. Either way this poll means nothing.

For weeks before this, everyone was predicting doom for Stephen Harper and the Conversatives because they were 12 points behind the Liberals... a 7 point shift is notin' in this crazy wacky world but everybody seemed to forget that.

The truth is that people are just reacting to bad headlines... Given enough time people will forget, and the Liberals will climb back up to their soft 38%. But, as usual with most Canadian election campaigns, in the actual election campaign Liberal support will erode at least 5 points before the end... A lot of vote parkers, and people that like to vote with the winner start to have doubts I guess.

Everything will come down to the campaign the next time around as it did the last time around. This poll, as with previous polls means nothing. I don't think any of this is permanent. The next time around it'll all come down to the campaign...

A little sickening it is, for me to know that... Politics is supposed to be about policy. I don't care who can spin whatever idiotic mistakes whoever made to whomever's advantage better than someone else... I want a debate on the issues of the day and not on who has a hidden agenda or who is progressive and who isn't.

You know policy? The stuff that actually matters? The stuff that isn't a game for reporters and politicians to play?

Please wake me up when that actually starts to happen.

Greedy...

Boeing workers are out on strike:
More than a thousand Boeing workers hit the picket lines this morning, snarling plans to launch a critical U.S. national security satellite and environmental research spacecraft aboard Delta rockets this year.

Differences over health benefits and retirement plans remained unsolved despite recent talks between Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

You know some people, just some, would give their left arm just to get close to those rockets, and get close to working the jobs that those union members are working as... Some people wouldn't believe it if you told them that they could work those jobs and actually get paid to do that work... Some people work in management, but won't get those hunky dory health benefits, or the retirement security... No they have to take care of themselves.

Greedy doesn't even begin to describe these people as far as I'm concerned.

Evangelical Educational Pruning

Oh boy, this is interesting though:
Miller said that his prediction was based on an examination of the new Pope's writings and approach. The Pope has argued "that it might be better for the Church not to expend its resources trying to preserve institutions if their Catholic identity has been seriously compromised," Miller said.

In the Holy Father's view, "the measure of an institution can be judged by its Catholic integrity," Miller said. If the institution secularizes, "it might be a matter of truth and justice that such an institution is no longer upheld. . . . [I]f a Catholic institution is no longer motivated by a Catholic identity, it is better to let it go."

Which would mean that an awful lot of supposedly Catholic schools could be declared not Catholic... And that may not be such a bad thing. Sometimes the truth has to be spoken - and the truth is that there an awful lot of schools maskarading as Catholic when they are not even close.

Gomery and the Mob

The key to ruling Rome was through the Mob... Emperors that knew it, used it, and maintained control. They bred the mob. They nutured the mob. And above all else they prevented anything else from taking hold. The mob is when people stop thinking, and respond to emotion alone...

The Roman Circus was an ingenious invention. What better way to make people forget about their problems, their pains, their labours, and above all reality by presenting them with a surreal game of bloody life and death?

Emperor's controlled and manipulated the mob. They wielded group-think, and cultivated a type of collective animalistic tribalism on the grand scale... That was the key to Rome's success.

Paul Martin obviously understands this. The Post-Gomery spin is quite the display of his mastery of the mob.

His strategists knew well enough, that simply proving his innocense was not enough. They had to assign blame to someone... 'Cuz the mob needs someone to blame, to lash out at, to beat up, and to hate... If not someone else they could easily turn on the Supreme Leader PMPM himself.

The strategy: Blame Chretien. All that money stolen? Chretien's fault. All that corruption? Chretien's fault. All those Liberals getting kickbacks? Chretien's fault. The sky's falling? Chretien's fault.

In a sense Gomery is Paul Martin's Circus: it's his game to slaughter politically his foes for the sake of controlling the mob. Chretien is his perfect target. Us wee peasants can watch him die politically and revel in it like a blood thirsty mob.

The Never Ending Gomery Saga

Not that I'm adverse to seeing the Liberals roast under fire, and for their political entrails to be blasted out on the roads for all to see, but I have to say that Gomery has been going on for an awful while. And I bet that he will conclude what we already know: the Liberals were and problably still are corrupt.

I'm writting this an hour before the report gets released from the clutches of the Supreme Leader Martin himself to us the wee peasants of Canuckistan. And I can already tell you what the headlines will be "Martin exhonorated..." Or better yet "Martin Not Guilty!"

And the opposition will say "The Prime Minister didn't ask enough questions..." But that will get regelated to the back of the newspapers for only the really conscious and alert to see after a couple dozen morning coffees and a couple slaps in the face which are required to find the quote in miniscule print...

Regardless the facts will still be the same. The Liberals think they own the government. That regime under Chretien bread that contempt to point where hundreds of millions were stolen. That regime had Paul Martin, the current PM, as it's poster child messiah. Martin had ample opportunity, and had amble warnings of the shenanigans going on... He never bothered to ask any questions, or to correct any errors. He either was incompetent or he was an accomplice.

No amount of spin, or reports, or anything else will change that simple fact.