"...from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with, Good night, Good luck, a Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all you on the good Earth..."

On this Christmas Mark Whittington writes about a momentous Christmas long ago...

It was on the ninth orbit, during a live television broadcast, that the crew of Apollo 8 gave the world its Christmas present. The crew read in turn from the first ten verses of the Book of Genesis. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God said, ‘Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.”
(...)
As a footnote, not everyone was impressed by the reading of Genesis. The militant atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair later caused controversy by bringing a lawsuit against NASA over the reading from Genesis; she demanded that the courts ban US astronauts—who were all Government employees—from public prayer in space. (link)(via)

And that's why Buzz Aldrin's taking of communion on the well remembered moon landing mission Apollo 11 was never publicized... Not because of any official ban, but because of uneasyness towards the idea of how people would react.

Dion: I Demand An Apology!

"I will never talk to Stephen Harper again unless he apologizes to me, to my wife who works for the Liberal Party of Quebec, and to all my friends who are working day and night to prevent the separatists from coming back," Dion told CTV's Countdown with Mike Duffy.

"What he said is a shame. There is no word in English that can describe what I feel."

Oh there is a word for how I feel at reading that propaganda from Dion's horribly distorted mouth, but It's not something polite, and I'm sure it wouldn't add anything to the debate. I leave that language up to the Warren Kinsella's of the Dominion.

What Dion was reacting to was these comments from Stephen Harper:

"I think they can't wait to see a PQ government so they can stand up for federalism and fight the separatists," Harper said while visiting a Toronto boxing club.

"But frankly, the only thing that can justify the kind of corrupt party that they've been is to have a separatist threat to fight."(link)

Dion Would do well to read a former Liberal's take on the very same situation before he goes ahead and points a lying finger at Harper.

On separation, Martin shocked Canadians by enlisting Bloc co-founder Jean Lapierre as his Quebec lieutenant. Lapierre has characterized the Clarity Act as useless, a reflection of the position his leader once took.

The danger of Martin's position is that in casting this election as a fight against separation, he runs the risk of actually promoting the agenda he opposes. By misleading anglophones into thinking this is a referendum rehearsal, he sets the stage for a huge boost for separatist fortunes in Quebec.
(...)
Harper is right to challenge Martin. In cranking up the rhetoric, Martin is actually lending a hand to the very separatists he claims to oppose. (link)(via)

Who said this? Why non other than Social Liberalismo Elite Rat Packer former Chretien Cheerleader and Dion pall Sheila Copps... It appears that Sheila seems to think that the Martin Liberals are happy to make the election about seperation, so Harper's comments just don't seem that far off the mark now do they?

Just remember Stephane, when you point a finger at someone in judgement, there are three fingers pointing right back at you...

Stephane Dion, the Liberals are using the unity issue to their advantage and you are covering it up with a wounded animal routine... You are the one who should be apologizing to me, my family, to all Canadians, and to your wife, and to your children and to everyone in this Dominion.

The Dog Days of Advent in Paris...

Paris, France.

Wish I could blog on something revelant to Canadian politicos or space nutsos but nothing eventfull here... The riots are long over, and buried in the collective French group think thing. The government still talks about dealing with issues in the "banlieue", but it seems more contrived propaganda and smooth wording than anything else.

Instead I fall back on the good North American continent for stuff to blog on... and on that point I notice that SpaceX's Falcon maiden launch is delayed... once again!

I'm starting to wonder if the thing will ever launch. And no doubt this is a real sucker punch to Engineers working on the project. Let's all pray that Falcon will be able to make it... And generations of space freaks everywhere will remember that single most important day of whenever the heck the rocket get's shout out of atmo.

Next on my list of mentions, is this little comment from a Liberal riding exec:

OAKVILLE, Ont. (CP) - The president of the Oakville Liberal riding association has resigned after telling a voter unhappy with gun control to take her "gun loving ass back to the U.S." (link)(via)

Now look, plenty of Conservative riding execs can say some pretty stupid stuff... I know not to judge a whole whack of phoney hippie arm pit hair growing Liberals by one bad apple.

The thing is that I think that Liberal riding exec just got caught thinking what I think a lot of Liberals really believe. There is this sense that I get from many Liberals, that they would just rather anyone who's Conservative either get the heck out of the country or die... And it's pretty much our pick to take which one we prefer.

Maybe, that's just a undeserved feeling... But it is definitely entertaining to see that a stupid comment made the news from a Liberals' mouth and not a Conservatives'. Although it has nothing to do with policy or anything tangible, it's a moment to keep in mind for when those one in a million tin foil hat Tories magically come out of the wood work just before election day, due to some amazingly enthuastic non-biased reporters that manage to track them down, and those same incredibly in the minority Tories will say the most ludicrously ridiculous, stupid, and nonsensitical or just poorly timed things... Like Ralph Klein to name one.

Laytonisms...

Watched part of the debate last night. The most troubling moment for me came when the email was read of a corrections officer that said something like it was his observation that most crime is the cause of poverty...

Everyone else's response was typical. Layton did something unexpected. He managed to find a new way to annoy me with his leftism with this response: "That just makes sense... It just passes that test..."(Or something like that)

Look, many criminal may be impoverished. No doubt poverty, and a variety of other social issues can cause people to become criminals...

It is important to have compassion for the poor. But it's another thing to excuse criminal behaviour. Criminals, afterall, chose to be criminals.

And I'm sorry, but was Karla Homolka or Paul Bernardo poor? No, not as far as I know. So how does that "make sense" and "passes that test?"

It doesn't. So, although I respect Layton for his honesty, we're gonna have to agree to disagree. And I'm gonna chalk this up to just another Laytonism...

We have to be careful as a society when we assign causes to crime. The end result is that we are shifting the blame off of criminals themselves. I know I've had a good life. But I've had my experience of temptation myself. But even Rich kids become Killers and thugs very easily - not that I'm rich at all.

In the end it's a choice. Don't excuse. Don't apologize. The unfortunate result of that is that criminals themselves start to believe that propaganda... And how could a criminal ever feel remorsefull for a crime when they don't believe they were at fault for having committed that crime?

Kinsella: Get off the Pot!

One of the most favourite sayings my [Removed For Fear of my Life] year old Italian mother has is whenever any of her kids says something that doesn't make any sense she tells us to "get off the pot!" My mother is quite the character, and not to messed with I'll tell you that.

After reading Warren Kinsella's Dec. 15th post, I have to say to him "get off the pot!"

December 15, 2005 - I've seen the data, folks. Believe me: dissing Dalton McGuinty - by any federal leader - is dumb, dumb, dumb. The principal reason why the Liberal brand remains popular in Ontario is due to McGuinty. The guy is seen as hardworking, principled and decent, even by traditional Tory voters. He's got one of the only effective political machines in the country (Liberal or otherwise). And he's going to get re-elected, handily. Any politician who criticizes him - as Martin did in 2004, as Harper is doing in 2005 - will not benefit. They will, in fact, get hurt.(link)

What kind of weehakeewohoo is that kind of data? You're talking about a man who started his term in office breaking his first and most publicized promise not to raise taxes, and has become so revered for his promise breaking ways he received the nickname "McGuilty".... And he's seen as "principled"? Sure he may have a good political machine - that I can't comment on. But he remains "popular"? Even to Tory voters?

The apprehention from Tory voters may have to do with many traditional Tories feeling a little unsure about John Tory. That I could understand. Otherwise that comment makes no sense.

Greatest Hack Ever...

MIT Students turned one building on their campus into a Mario Brothers world parody...

Intial Thoughts:

a) MIT Students have too much time on their hands...
b) I rest easy knowing that there are some people out there at least as nerdy as I am.
c) This took quite some effort to pull off.
d) I think I remember walking down those halls once, and I have to say, this would've been fun to look at.
e) I feel sorry for the poor shmuck that had to take all of this stuff down.

The Non-Debate Debate...

Wow that debate will be remembered for one crucial feature: the lack of debate. Gotta hand it to all those naysayers out there complaining all the time about "politicians shouting at each other and cutting each other off." The end result is that nothing ends up actually getting debated. All that ends up happening is leaders provide a pre-canned response to questions. La-Di-Friggi'-Da.

Then the Supreme Leader Paul Martin utttered this monstrocity.

"A government that cannot keep its promises is a government that will not have the moral authority to government," Martin said. (link)

Hummmm......

And these promises must just be just figments of my imagination:
1. Eliminate the Democratic Deficit
2. Eliminate Same-Sex Marriage with Civil Unions
3. Getting to the bottom of the sponsorship scandal before the next election (2004)
4. Eliminate the GST
5. Eliminate NAFTA
... and the list goes on and on...

When you beat up Nuns...

All I have to say is that the guys that did thisare cowards and wimps.

US Ambassadors, and Dithering Prime Ministers...

The Supreme Leader Paul Martin had this to say in response to the US ambassador's warning against US-bashing to gain votes:

"I am not going to be dictated to as to the subjects I should raise," the bristling Liberal leader said yesterday. "When it comes to standing up for Canadian interests, I'm going to call it like I see it."
(...)
"I will make sure that Canada speaks with an independent voice now, tomorrow and always..."

oh, yah that's right... You're tough. Tough enough to first be for the War in Iraq, and then to change your mind when you figured out how unpopular it was. Conservative leader Stephen Harper chymed in on this side show circus:

"I actually think the ambassador's intervention was inappropriate," Harper said yesterday.
(...)
"I don't think foreign ambassadors should be expressing their views or intervening in an election," Harper said.
(...)
"Anyone who has watched Mr. Martin on Canadian-U.S. relations in the last couple of years knows you can't take anything he says seriously," he said. "(Martin is) like the kid name-calling from the distance. There was never much risk of a fight and Mr. Martin reminds me of that kid ... he couldn't throw a punch to save his life."(link)(via)

I think the first couple quotes were an expression at his dismay that the US Whitehouse would fall right into Paul Martin's political trap by getting the US Ambassador to make those comments. That is exactly what the Supreme Leader of Canuckland wants. He wants to look like the Hero of Canada standing up against the evil Uncle Sam. It's cheap political posturing for votes.

The best way for Americans to deal with Anti-Americanism - at least from Canada - is to ignore it. Which I know cannot be an easy thing to do.

Klein does it again...

How many times do people need to tell King Ralph: "fermez votre bouche...."

"I like Stephen, I really do, and I want to put that to rest,'' Klein said in a year-end interview with The Canadian Press. "I like some of the things that he has announced relative to this election. But I'm a realist and look at the polls.

"He's going to have problems in Central Canada, in Ontario specifically, and perhaps in Quebec where the Bloc is strong.''

It's not the first time Klein has offered his frank opinion of Harper's chances. And what he has to say contrasts sharply with the positions of other Tory premiers.(link)

Does he have no political common sense at all? You don't downplay your sides' chances of success because in the end you don't know. You don't despair in public. It's the equivalent of a general in a war saying he doesn't think his army is going to win. If you've lost faith you shouldn't contribute to other people loosing faith in other words.

Ralph, do us all a favour in this country: Stop talking.

Thinking Conservatives...

I guess I'm going to repeat a long said refrain by almost everyone in politics but I'm going to do it anyways: "Don't listen to polls."

Polls mean absolutely nothing in this election. I've been telling people that for a while. Well... they may mean something out West, or Quebec, or the rest of wilderness of Bush in Canuck land, but in Ontario they mean precisely bupkis.

Liberal leader Dalton McGuilty figured that enchilada out quite harshly when he got bush whacked by Mike Harris his first time at the bat of Provincial Ontario politics. His Liberals party was riding high in the first weeks of the campaign only to get squashed after the debates. It was all high and euphoria at the prospect of bringing the Harris Tories down, until the avalanche hit and it was over.

People were all too quick to laud the Tories for such a great campaign, and for Mike Harris's stellar debate performance. All of that meant nothing. All of that had nothing to do with it.

The truth is that the exact same thing happened in the last federal election and the first provincial election that saw the Harris Tories win I think. The Tories were behind in the first weeks of the campaign, only to jump up by 10 points after the debates.

The truth is that there are Conservatives out there I like to call "Thinking Conservatives." They aren't neccessarily Red Tories or Ontario Reformers... They are merely people that have no official loyalty to the Conservative Party and reside in the Province of Ontario. They reserve judgments until the end. Though they tend to always vote Conservative - unless something happens drastically changing their opinions.

To show you what the heck I'm talking about here's what I expected this campaign to look like in terms of polls for the first few weeks in Ontario:
Liberals: 40 to 38%
Conservatives: 30 to 35%

This is what I expect - God willing - for the first polls in Ontario to look after the debates:
Liberals: 35%
Conservatives: 40 to 45%

With the NDP and Greens taking the rest of the bits on the ground. It don't matter what election you look at in the last 15 years campaign numbers in Ontario seem to follow this pattern. So shucks, I figure good old fate, she'll repeat herself again.

In 2004 after the debates, in Ontario Harper saw that 10 point jump. It was quickly followed by the Ralph Klein "Two-Tiered Healthcare" weekend that included a new set of Liberal attack Ads and some comments on Child pornography. Those 10 points quickly evaporated as the gaffes and ads took a toll.

Even Ernies Eves saw a poll with a 10 point jump after his round of debates. Then the Reptilian Kitten Eater from hell gaffe threw those out the door.

The way I see it, the real reason Mike Harris won, has nothing to do with his debate performance - although good. It had to do with one simple reason: he didn't screw up.

Here's to hoping that Harper and none of Harper's Tories screw up this time.

What? No Space Protest?

Apparently the anti-Nuke peaceniks don't care about NASA's New Horizon mission:

"The last time NASA launched a spacecraft that used radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), the Cassini mission in October 1997, there was a modest amount of controversy surrounding the launch. The fear of radioactive contamination in the event of a launch accident, and ill-defined concerns by anti-nuclear activists that this was the spearhead for the "nuclearization" and weaponization of space generated its fair share of heated rhetoric, protests, and even legal efforts to block the launch.
(...)
"Now, NASA is gearing up to launch its first RTG-powered spacecraft since Cassini, the New Horizons mission to Pluto. Yet, unlike Cassini, there is remarkably little controversy surrounding the launch, even when considering the relatively limited opposition to Cassini. (link)

Space protests seem like fun... what the anti-nuke fanaticals can't drag themselves out of the closet for a few seconds for my personal entertainment?

Canada has had it's bulky share of those worry warts afraid that NASA is going to cause a mushroom cloud. It all stems from a Russian probe that spread radiation across a section of the Canadian north once upon a time. No deaths have been attributed to it - and as far as I know nothing ever became of it.

But apparently ever since we Canucks can count ourselves victims on the horrible "weaponization of space" crusade. And I'm one Crazy Canuck that isn't in that group.... I figure just because a probe is carrying some plutonium, doesn't mean that Star Wars is going to happen overnight.

Jeff Foust says all the silence on the new mission is probably 'cuz everyone is more pre-occupied with stuff like Iraq, and terrorism. I think there may be another reason: people are starting to realise how weehakeewoohoo beying worried about something like this is.

Incredible...

You just have to read this:

"...I'm 17 now, I've been with my current boyfriend for about two years. During that time i've been HIV and STD tested four times. Right now I'm sitting in the waiting room while my boyfriend gets the results for his HIV test. We love each other so we're responsible and Planned Parenthood helps us to do that."(link)(via)

Getting HIV tested 4 times in the last 3 years because of your sexual activity is responsible? Doesn't that bother anyone else but me? Oh sure it's safe to have oodles and oodles of sex without worry... Condoms will save us. That's why you've gotten tested for a life threatening STDs not once, not twice, not three times, but four times since you were 14.

I feel so bad for this girl. Those idiots at Planned Parenthood are putting her whole life in danger. Not to mention potentialy not reporting a rape.

Firefighters...

It's funny, last night I was told by someone that women tend to crave the ideal man as being a firefighter:

Gonzalez, a former firefighter in the town of Aguada, has told his followers that he became a manifestation of John Paul when the pope died in April and that Pope Benedict XVI is the "antichrist," according to the order, which priests in the diocese read to their congregations Sunday.(link)(via)

Yikes. Someone's the antichrist... and it sure aint B16.

Bring Back the Airborne

Harper's really does have guts:

A Conservative government would boost Canada's ability to project its values around the world with more military aircraft and a new airborne battalion, Leader Stephen Harper said on Tuesday.
(...)
Asked about his plan to create a new airborne battalion of 650 troops stationed in Trenton, Harper said he doesn't believe there's a stigma attached to the idea of airborne troops. (link)

This is going to get so much news coverage. Why wouldn't it? The Somalia inquiry and the Airborne fiasco were such a deep embarassement not just to Canadians but to members of the Airborne itself.

Instead of dealing with the problems that lead to that mess, the government decided to bury it's head in the sand by disbanding the Airborne entirely.

According to the Somalia Inquiry, the problems that lead to the hazing videos we all saw, had sources from a wide net of errors going all the way up to DND national headquaters.

For years Canada has been without a mission capable regiment of soldiers that could do what the Airborne could do... Now were going to re-create one from scratch if Harper get's elected.

And it's a long time coming.

Stephen Lewis Upsets...

This is a little old from LifeSite:

"...[Stephen Lewis] is using the entire body of the UN for his personal agenda of condomizing the developing nations. Why he has the audacity to fight the only nation which has demonstrated success in reducing HIV/AIDS is utterly beyond me."
[...]
"Mr. Lewis is further sinking the credibility of the UN in the Great Lakes region in that Mr. Lewis is the type that reminds us of the UN staff who did nothing to stop the genocide in Rwanda where close to a million Africans were butchered under the close supervision of the UN."
[...]
"We are tired of these western officials who fly in a few hours and become experts in our campaign. Steve (sic) Lewis should come to Uganda and spend a few months at the feet of activists who are on the frontline ... He is spending far too much time doing teleconferences, flying from conference to conference and listening to his stooges who keep telling him what he wants to hear...’there is not enough condoms. Send us more so we can condomise the world."
[...]
"Kofi Annan, do us a favor. Fire this Steve (sic) Lewis and restore credibility to the institution of United Nations."(Source)

And we think we're better today than the colonial masters of Africa of yesteryear? That's ridiculous. We still don't get it. It's not enough that we give up direct control, we also have to come to realization that for all our higher civilized ways we aint better than they are...

Because honestly: Stephen Lewis seems to think he is.

Scott Reid Strikes!

"Working families need care that's regulated, safe and secure," he said. "Don't give people 25 bucks (a week) to blow on beer and popcorn. Give them child care spaces that work."

Duffy saw nothing wrong with the comment - and in fact repeated Reid's assessment and stretched the reasoning a little further.

"'There is nothing to stop people from spending (the Tory cash allowance) on beer or popcorn or a coat or a car or anything," he said. (link)

And what was Reid's apology?

Reid, for his part, admitted he had chosen "a dumb way to make my point" during a Sunday morning panel discussion on television.

No kidding.

But that aint the half of it. Because that is really what Liberals believe. All Scott Reid is getting whacked for, is for saying what he really honestly and sincerily believes. People are stupid.

That's the essential thrust of the modern neo-Liberal ideology. People are stupid inert masses ready to be shaped in the image of social scientists and regulators.

People are stupid. They shouldn't have guns 'cuz they'll just shoot themselves. People are stupid. They'll just spend Child Care money on beer and popcorn.
People are stupid. They'll just kill themselves unless we label every danger.
People are stupid. They won't know what to do with themselves, unless we regulate everything to death.
People are stupid. They don't know what a marriage is.
People are stupid. Give 'em an elected senate and they would all just vote for crack addicts and lunatics.
People are stupid. They shouldn't watch Fox.... Or anything else we don't find enlightened.
People are stupid. Can't give them choice in education, 'cuz the fools will just put their kids in a religious school...
People are stupid. If faced with the slightest Christian symbol or act, people will just become mindless automatons.
People are stupid. They won't notice if we break our promises, over and over and over and over and over and over and over....

Lamenting the Pro-Trad Marriage Movement

This is a hard post for me to write. But there are just some things that need to be said about the Pro-Trad Marriage movement. Basically - it doesn't have a clue what's it's doing.

I'm hoping that with Dr. Grant Hill, and Pat O'brien at the helm, they will bring the necessary political "je ne sais quoi" to the movement that it had been lacking for a while. What it needed starting from day one was some political hacks that could tell the Christian Ministers in control some heartfelt advice on what not to do.

I don't want to be that harsh, but sometimes that is exactly the impression I get from the movement all the time. The impression is that their is a lack of a sense of reality on the behalf of it's members. Sometimes meetings seem like they're being organized like Church events, or prayer groups. There is a time and place for that. This isn't one of them.

Today some positive news. The Pro-Trad Marriage web site is up and looks rather good. It's a long time coming. I've critiqued the movement before, because of the noticeable lack of... well... anyone but White Male Christians.

In the US the Pro-Life movement is a lot smarter. They put women and minorities at the forefront of everything they put in terms of literature like pamphlets or otherwise.

This is a sobering reminder, but most Canadian so-called "Christians" aren't Pro-Trad Marriage. Of course there are a lot of people that call themselves Christian and really "cafeteria Christians" picking and choosing what they want to believe and not...

When polls are done on the issue it's clear that the Canadian public is very nearly divided on the issue of same sex marriage. However, those same polls will tell you, that an awful lot of that Pro-Trad Marriage support comes from minorities like Sikhs, Muslims, and Immigrants.

Instead of welcoming those people into the movement, I've had Sikh friends go to meetings, and be asked if they could remove their turban. Not exactly the most welcoming gesture.

These are all groups not really sought after, or thought of strategically by the Pro-Trad Marriage movement. And it's unfortunate. Because I don't think we'll ever protect Marriage without their implicit support and inclusion into this battle.

Liberal Conversions...

Liberal Rat Packer Socialist Sheila Copps had this to say about the gun registry and the Supreme Leader Paul Martin's recent "Ban the hand guns" promise:

At the time, Rock said he would love to ban all handguns, but his natural caution and the caucus (of which I was then a member) convinced him to take a different path.
...
All hell broke loose. Turns out, the legislation would have banned some guns used in Olympic competition. When Susan Nattrass lobbied parliamentarians to legalize Olympic guns, she was joined by thousands of law-abiding citizens who shoot on a recreational basis.
...
The registry was a bureaucratic nightmare which was so over-budget and underperforming that it became a constant source of embarrassment. MPs and ministers who had guns (and there were many) complained they couldn't even get through on the toll-free line to register. Eventually the whole mess was turned over to the RCMP.
...
This latest move has little to do with gun control results. It has a lot to do with widening the split between progressive Liberals and regressive Tories. (link)

And to make matters worse for Paul Martin, Parent's of a murdered Black teen in Toronto had this to say about the Supreme Leader's new scheme:

MAPLE -- Prime Minister Paul Martin is a "jackass" if he thinks that banning handguns will "choke off" the deadly weaponry of Toronto street gangs, says a man whose son was slain.
...
"This man goes into the ghetto and says he wants to ban guns -- they are laughing at him," he said yesterday.
...
Once steadfast Liberals, Huxtable and his wife Yvette, both Jamaican immigrants, now say Liberal crime policies help create teen gang violence. (link)(Via)

I guess there is hope afterall for Liberals everywhere... Heck, if socialist Sheila can see the light, anything is possible.

Sounds like these guys need a little B16...

...While the public board sensibly has a firm policy expressly banning any politically partisan event from its schools, the Catholic board had no problem granting Martin, a dissident Catholic, a perfect photo op with school children whooping wildly, and waving flags for the Leader of the Liberal Party.

The public board said that had Martin requested a visit outside of his campaign, he would have been welcome. On the other hand, because Martin is Prime Minister, the Catholic board felt it was a “chance of a lifetime” for schoolchildren to meet a world leader. The Catholic board said it would not, however, allow a visit from Steven Harper or Jack Layton because they are not world leaders....(link)

That's both an interesting and confusing argument.... Hitler was a "world leader" too. Would that mean that this school board would have no problem with him coming for a visit in another time and place?

Now, hold your keisters hippie hairy armpitted Liberals everywhere, I am not suggesting that your Supreme Leader Paul Martin is Hitler. He is quasi-Dictatorial, but that's not the same thing.

The point is this: that Catholic School Board has some pretty flawed logic. That is evidenced by the fact that if you take the "world leader" criterion to it's logical conclusion you end up with Hitler being a suitable guest. You need something more.

A better criterion to allow politicians to speak of any faith is this one: do they follow the moral teachings of the Catholic Church?

"foolhardy"..."destructive"

It looks like there really is someone in the AIDS establishment that has woken up to reality:

Appearing before the African subcommittee of the U.S. Senate on May 19, 2003, Green stated: “Infection rates [in Uganda] have declined from 21% to 6 % since 1991. Many of us in the AIDS and public health communities didn’t believe that abstinence and faithfulness were realistic goals. It now seems we were wrong.”

Though some still stubbornly act like a mule on steroids:

...in July 2004 on pro-condom activists at the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, among them Canada’s Stephen Lewis, who attacked U.S. supporters of the program as “foolhardy” and “destructive.”(link)

Income Trust Scandal

Allegations that there was a leak from the Finance Department on the announcement of a tax cut on dividend paying stocks to certain... "preferrential" persons lets say have been refuted time and time again by the Liberals.

CTV managed to get the Prez of CARP to admit to getting a phone call from someone in Finance Minister Goodale's department informing them of a pending announcement. That wasn't the smoking gun though. CTV found postings on message boards online made before the announcement pretty much leaking the information. However the CARP story was like the icing on the cake for this scandal.

"The day they made the announcement they phoned us and said something is going to be said," Gleberzon, told CTV News Wednesday night.

Gleberzon said the call came from a senior policy advisor in the finance minister's office, someone his group had been dealing with all along.

That to me seems clear. No misunderstandings there. He got a call from someone in the finance minister's office.

However, on Thursday morning, Gleberzon and CARP issued a news release denying any advance knowledge of Goodale's announcement.

"At no time was CARP given an indication by the Minister's office of when the announcement would be made or what it would say," the release said.

It just gets weirder from there.

CTV's Kathy Tomlinson talked to Gleberzon after the release was issued. He confirmed what he had said in the previous interview, but now maintained he had misspoken.

At first, Gleberzon said no one from the finance minister's office had contacted him about the interview.

When told that the finance ministry's communications director, John Embury, had already admitted to calling Gleberzon Wednesday night, he explained:

"I did speak to him …. I shouldn't have said that I didn't, but I did," Gleberzon told Tomlinson. (link)(Via)

The Liberal explanation about these reversals of Gleberzon? He's old and confused.

He might very well be. Though he seems more like child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Either way how does any of this matter?

Even if Gleberzon is telling the truth, how do you explain those message board postings? The info had to have come from somewhere...

Addendum: Harper is calling on Goodale to stepdown. This may not get much traction unless the NDP or the BQ follow suit.

Lets Ban Chickens...

Today's policy announcement is to show that handguns will no longer be welcome in Canada, a Liberal source said. Mr. Martin will argue in Toronto that the only way to stop the recent rash of slayings and gang-related violence is to ban handguns and choke off the supply.(link)

The biggest problem with society today, is that people blame inanimate objects for problems. Fast Food causes obesity... Cigarettes cause cancer... Carbs make people fat... Fat makes people fat... Pepsi causes cavities... And Guns cause violence.

Fast food doesn't make people obeise. People eating too much fast food does. Cigarettes don't cause cancer. People smoking cigarettes cause cancer. Carbs, and fat don't make anyone fat. People eating too much of either does. Pepsi does not create cavities. Drinking it will if you're living by 1960's dentistry era practices. And Guns don't cause violence. People using guns cause violence. It's the sin that's the problem not the object.

This announcement has given glee to those on the left like Calgary Grit though:

Gun control has always been one of the issues that drove me towards the Liberal Party. I support the gun registry and would probably support a complete ban on all guns within major city limits if anyone ever proposed that. So this is a policy I can really get behind and I think a lot of Canadians in big cities, especially Toronto, will strongly support it.
...
The fact of the mater is, there is no reason for anyone to own a handgun that won't be covered by an exception to this law (ie. police officers and target shooters). There's a reason that I'm not allowed to own a collection of antique grenade launchers. There's a reason I can't own an assault riffle to hunt rabbits in my backyard. And the same principle should apply to hand guns.

What about farmers that everyonce and a while have to put an animal out of it's misery? Or someone that lives up North - not officially registered with anyone - that needs to shoot a lunging bear everyonce and while?

But hey who cares about them "barbarians." Those civilized folk like CalgaryGrit know a lot better then those horrible backwards un-"progressives" such as myself.

Actually come to think of it lets ban Chickens. They cause all that avian flu - and no one likes avian flu. No one needs Chickens to live. They don't serve any real purpose. What rational reason could anyone have for using a Chicken? Actually lets make up a law that bans all uses of Chickens except the ones that the enlightened few in Ottawa think of. After all we can trust politicians - it's not like they've ever lied before...

Yes, I'm aware this won't affect a ton of people. And I'm aware this won't stop gun violence in Toronto. But it's a good start and, unlike most of the policies announced so far this campaign, I really don't see a downside to it.(link)

Now you're really confusing me. If it doesn't cure the problem, then why the heck are we implementing the solution? I realize you're just trying to make "things better" for all us uncivilized barbarians that are too stupid to know any better, but why can't you just deal with the bloody problems in Toronto and fix them and leave the rest of us alone?

Police officers in both Toronto and Vancouver say a large number of the guns on the street, probably the majority, are illegal weapons being smuggled into the United States.

Again, the little un-"progressive" over here is just too darn backwaters red neck to get what the superior race in inner cities is getting at. If the darn guns are coming from another country illegally, why will they stop flowing when they ban the legal guns?

This is all meant in jest at CalgaryGrit. Of all the Liberals bloggers I read he seems like the nicest guy. But it's too bad that he can't relate to us uncivilized monkeys that think differently.

Mid-Campaign Liberal Scandal?

'In the two weeks since Canada's Finance Minister announced a tax cut to dividend-paying stocks, the big question in financial and political circles is whether some people had advance notice of his Nov. 23 announcement. A CTV Whistleblower investigation into what happened that day has found that may have been the case.
...
'That evidence is in public bulletin board postings on a popular investor's internet site called "Stockhouse". The first posting -- at 11:14 that morning -- came from someone who wrote: "Skuttlebutt is that he (Goodale) will soon announce a reduction on dividend taxation to 'even the playing field'." This information was posted a full seven hours before the minister's press conference, and possibly viewed by many potential investors before the markets closed.

'The second posting on the same site came from another person, who also seemed to know what was coming. At 3:59, they posted this message: "The hot rumour is that the government's decision on the income trust issue is that they are going to make a more level playing field by reducing the degree of double taxation which currently exists on dividends by increasing the dividend tax credit."

Goodale's actual announcement?

"We're going to help to level up the playing field as between corporations and trusts and we're going to be doing that by ending double taxation on dividends..."(link)(Via)

Coincidence? Goodale seems to think so stating that not a single RCMP investigator had contacted him to question him on the affair.

Then again, I have to ask the question, if this were a Conservative, would the RCMP have thought twice about launching an investigation? It's been well known for a while, that there isn't a lack of overconfidence on the behalf of opposition party leaders when it comes to the rigorous investigation methods of the RCMP when directed at members or supporters of the Liberal Regime...

Apollo 2.0

Jeffrey F. Bell comments on ESAS and the VSE:

'The four lunar astronauts hang in the middle of a huge empty pressure cabin. It almost looks like a space gymnasium.
What possible use is all this space on a short trip to the Moon, or the even shorter Earth-entry phase of a Mars mission?
...
'This slide tells us that the ESAS program is not really designed “from the top down” as Griffin claims, but rather “from the bottom up”. The Mars return capsule which Griffin claims to be the basic CEV version has not yet been designed and doesn’t even have a weight budget!
...
'The effort at KSC required for each moon mission will be roughly equivalent to preparing and launching two Shuttles simultaneously. Any defect found in either booster will lead to a delay in both launches. Considering the frequent delays and mission cancellations that have occurred in the Shuttle program, it seems unlikely that lunar missions could be launched on any kind of regular schedule.
...
'Everything about the ESAS architecture is optimized for political advantage, not efficiency. Every current Shuttle contractor and every NASA Center gets to stay at the feeding trough. And this program will need a lot of feeding.
...
'I suspect that Griffin’s strategy is akin to Lenin’s: things must be made much worse before they can get better. By rigidly conforming to the dictates of his political masters he has proven how absurd the overall VSE plan is. Already the Vision is colliding with reality in the form of the $3-6B cost overrun in Shuttle ops. It will soon become clear even to politicians that the plan as announced in January 2004 is unworkable and must be radically modified – probably by canceling Shuttle and ramping back US participation in the ISS.(link)

It's, if anything, a good read if you have nothing to do. After reading this though you're going to find it mighty hard to imagine the Shuttle lasting much more than a couple flights, or for NASA to ever be going to the mooon anytime soon.

Though he makes one point I'm heavily stroked by:

The main justifications for preserving so much 1970s Shuttle technology in Apollo 2.0 are:

1) it will speed up development and therefore reduce the length of the inevitable gap in US manned spaceflights.

2) it will reduce development costs so that the early stages of the program can be carried out in parallel with a continued Shuttle/ISS program.

The problem with these claims is that virtually every Shuttle element has go through a major redesign before it can be used in the new boosters.

No kidding. Everyone seems to assume that using a shuttle derived design can save mula by lower dev. costs. Just watch these shuttle derived versions going into massive cost overruns 'cuz they're desperately trying to adapt these old systems for new purposes...

BBQ'd Space Dudes...

Who would have figured that a burgeoning commercial market for space launch services could come from dead people:

'Susan Cooper, the widow of Mercury astronaut Gordon "Gordo" Cooper who died in October 2004, said Thursday that her husband's ashes will be included in the memorial payload to be launched on-board a commercial expendable rocket scheduled for no earlier than March 2006, Alan Boyle with MSNBC.com reported.
...
'Cooper's remains will be carried spaceward on the Falcon 1, a yet-to- be space tested launch vehicle built by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), along with a Pentagon satellite and the ashes of more than 170 people including actor James "Scotty" Doohan of Star Trek fame.(link)

Dead people don't complain. They don't breathe. They don't eat. They don't take up too much room. They don't need heat. They don't mind radiation. These are all reasons why the first widespread commercial astronauts could be dead people.

Hopefully one day more than just bbq'd celebrities will get to go...

Hypocrite

Warren Kinsella said...

'Good. Too many media were focussing on Duceppe's stupid comment, in my opinion.

'What they should have been focussing on, and now are, is Jean Lapierre's willingness to liken a democratic political party to the Nazis.

'As Bernie notes, the comment by Paul Martin's hand-picked Quebec lieutenant demeans the experiences of people who know what real Nazis are like. That kind of demagoguery has no place in our politics. (link)

I love reading Kinsella tearing strips off of the Supreme Leader Paul Martin's hide at every single opportunity. It's funny to watch a former blood sucker go after the current blood suckers.

That being said, Kinsella's the biggest hypocrite of them all. I wonder where his enlightened moral sense was when he was a strategist in another election campaign, for another Prime Minister, running against another opposition leader oh not so long ago as it would seem....

'Also attacking Day was Liberal cabinet minister Elinor Caplan, who was unable to restrain her hatred of the party and its principles when speaking to a crowd in her Toronto-area riding a couple of days ago. Her venom included the sweeping and unsubstantiated assertion that Alliance "supporters are Holocaust deniers, prominent bigots and racists." Prime Minister Chretien actually defended Caplan's hate comments.'(link)(More Proof)(Even More Proof)

Where was Kinsella's moral condemnation of Caplan? No, her likening the Alliance, a "democratic political party," to the Nazis was ok. I'm sure Kinsella will make up a million different reasons why the two situations were different, but in reality he's only fooling himself. The hypocrisy is bleeding from Kinsella's every word.

But by all means keep it up WK... Anything you do to help take down your former cronies is welcomed by me!

No More Paysans...

'In baby-strapped Italy, politicians are proposing that women be paid not to have abortions.

'The scheme - put forward by the left - comes at a time when the Roman Catholic church is urging a rethink of the country's 1978 abortion law, reported The Guardian. (link)(Via)

No kidding Italy has a baby problem. Italians have known for a while that Italians are not replacing themselves. They've bought into the anti-child pro-abortion pro-contraceptive view of post-modern society.

It's gotten so bad that I'm allowed as a 2nd generation Italian-Canadian to vote in Italian elections... Why? Because politicians in Italy, fearing that immigrants could dilute the voting power of Italians, decided to let 2nd generation Italians with a valid citizenship vote in elections even if they don't live in the same country...

All brought to you thanks to the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement:

'"We can't be breeding right now," says Les Knight. "It's obvious that the intentional creation of another [human being] by anyone anywhere can't be justified today." '(link)

Say that to the Italians.

O'Brien's Epiphany...

'Only a week after helping to topple his former party, longtime London MP Pat O'Brien has given the Liberals another slap, saying arch-rival Stephen Harper could make a good prime minister.

...

"It's certain that the current holder of that office has been a great disappointment to a great many people," he said, referring to Paul Martin.

...

'"It was tough for me to recognize that the Liberal party had really left me," he said. "I call them the NDP Lite. The Liberal party has become way too Liberal on social issues.'(link)(Via)

Welcome to reality Mr. O'Brien. We've been waiting a while for ya.

Campaign: Day... Whatever.

Ho-hum, we have a campaign here folks! A GST cut, SSM, and Healthcare talk? That sounds to me like a good policy debate...

Harper's first and foremost out of the gates, getting the positive press coverage and stealing the agenda by making a pledge to: a) cut the GST, b) hold a free vote on SSM, c) Makee the nowee privatee healthcaree thingee. And the Supreme Leader Paul Martin seems like a drunken monkey running the streets in panick at the whole affair.

Though this could have easily been the apegoat 2004 campaign. What we now know however, is that the Liberals were merely playing dead at the beginning of the last campaign only to unleash a hailstorm of ads in the final weeks. Also the media turned against Harper. After being so gushingly light on the Tories to make Joe Blow and Suzy Lue Canuck think that the election was a horse race so that they would actually watch the thing, the Media turned when they saw the prospect of something they fear the most: a Conservative government...

This should be a warning to all those heavy dancers out there, already celebrating a Tory victory: it aint over yet. Wait 'till Jan two. I'm expecting the barrage to start then.

The Liberal dog is no where near dead yet.

Serenity Ressurection?

Despite some disappointing box office figures – it didn’t do too bad, but disappointing performances in some countries led to others cancelling its theatrical outing altogether – the brilliant “Serenity” looks set to spawn a sequel.

That’s the good news. The bad news? It won’t be in 35mm.

According to IGN FilmForce, Joss Whedon’s space-serial might continue as a telemovie series, with “Serenity 2” going straight to the tube – the SciFi Channel, in fact.
(link)(via)

The film almost broke even at the box office. The last I heard it hadn't quite made the $40 mill it needed to cover cost. The DVD sales will bring it over the top I'm sure, but it's still disappointing to most fans to say the least. I confess to seeing it twice myself....

The Firefly series was cancelled before it's prime. I never bothered to watch the series myself, only because at the time I could never seem to find myself watching TV when the darn thing was on. I was only initiated to the Firefly series myself about a year back by a friend. When the DVD of the Firefly series sold like nuts, I'm sure it was a no brainer to those idiots at FOX that they had screwed up. Obviously there was a market for this stuff. Hence the Serenity movie. A movie that had it all going for itself - just like the Firefly series did.

So what happened? My guess is that most people that were likely to watch Serenity are no longer regular movie goers.

The theatre business is dying. Every year they struggle. The truth is that the advent of DVD players has changed the market. By selling itself as a "movie theatre experience in the comfort of your own home" DVD players have changed the dynamic of cinema. Many wait for the movie to come out on DVD to see it, because it's cheaper, and the experience is exactly the same.

In short there is nothing unique about the movie going experience anymore. Theatre execs tried to stem the tide by distinguishing themselves a few years ago. They added arcades and high quality restaurants in theatres with the hope that these efforts would make the movie going experience unique again... Even I have to admit being taken by the effort. There is one theatre in Toronto that I go to just for the experience... All of this has done nothing in the end to stem the tide though.

Serenity shouldn't be wasting it's time with TV. If anything Firefly's high DVD sales that spurred it's creation into the Serenity movie should be taken as a sign to movie execs and Joss Whedon himself... A Serenity sequel should go directly on DVD release.

"Accidental" Lunging at Harper?

The Tory campaign arrived in Waterloo, Ont., yesterday afternoon for a "mini-rally." All went smoothly until Stephen Harper was ushered out by his RCMP bodyguards. In the confusion of excited supporters, reporters rushing off to file their stories and Conservative staffers scurrying to lend a hand, Kitchener-Waterloo Record reporter Philip Jalsevac, reliably described as a middle-aged and unassuming man, "lunged" -- as one Tory described it -- at Mr. Harper with his tape recorder. Like Kevin Costner in The Bodyguard, a burly officer manhandled Mr. Jalsevac into submission. It took just a few moments for Mr. Harper's communications team to recognize the error, and Mr. Jalsevac was ushered into a private room for his scheduled interview with the campaigning Conservative chief. (link)(Via)

"Accidental?".... "Accidental?"... I bet a more than a couple people in that room wanted to do a lot more than manhandle that Record reporter - knowing the KW Record's reputation for it's - ahum! - Liberal reporting.

199 Liberal Scandals

1. Cancelling the Sea King replacement
2. Sponsorship scandal
3. Gun Registry
4. HRDC boondoggle
5. Problems with Transition Job Funds program
6. Tainted blood
7. Radwanski Spending Affair
8. Pearson Airport
9. GST Flip Flop
10. Airbus Investigation
11. Voting against Red Book promise of independent Ethics Commissioner
12. Irving fishing lodge stays/travel on Irving jets for cabinet ministers
13. Martin traveling on private corporate jets as Finance Minister
14. Don Boudria's stay at Boulay owned chalet
15. Denis Coderre staying with Boulay
16. Alfonso Gagliano being appointed Ambassador to Denmark
17. Shawinigate
18. Claude Gauthier (PM's friend)'s Transelec getting CIDA grant that was questioned by the Auditor General and even CIDA.
19. Liberal fundraiser Pierre Corbeil charged with fraud by RCMP after he approached several Quebec companies seeking federal job training grants and asking for payments to Liberal Party, having gotten the names from senior Quebec Liberal Minister, Marcel Masse.
20. Michel Dupuy, Heritage Minister, lobbying the CRTC....(link)(Via)

So many, many more....Enough said.

AIDS Conspiracy?

This claim is something new to me:

The opportunism is found in the alliance between the AIDS Establishment and various generic pharmaceutical manufacturers -- most of them, interestingly enough, in India -- who would like to hijack the patents that are applied to the relatively small number of AIDS medicines. These generic manufacturers are renowned for their indifference to quality, just as the NGO distributors are renowned for their indifference to actual cures. Instead, the main goal seems to be simply to crank out medicines, ignoring the hard-learned reality that poor treatment for an infectious disease is often worse than no treatment, because the pathogen is allowed to mutate into an even more virulent strain. Such accelerated evolution, of course, could yet turn the AIDS virus into much more of a killer than it already is. (link)(Via)

I'm not sure how valid this claim is. He's suggesting that there is a world wide wide conspiracy by the AIDS establishment and Pharmaceuticals to perpetuate the AIDS epidemic by not stressing Lifestyle changes as a means of combatting the decease. Conspiracies usually only work when an elite few are involved. He's talking about hundreds and hundreds of people... There would be evidence of it if that is true... Maybe there is though until I see it I'm not going to get all tinfoil hattish.

The point is that for whatever reason, the AIDS establishment seems unable to consider any other strategy for fighting AIDS then to proliferate condoms like mad. It hasn't shown results. Stressing Abstinence on the other hand has, in countries like Uganda...

The Pope Vs. Elton John

"He's endorsing genocide, basically, by saying what he says about AIDS and restricting the use of condoms."(link)(Via)

Right... The Pope teaching that sex destroys the soul if it is just self gratification of the physical and nothing more is genocidal to Elton John... EJ could take a look at Uganda, the only country in Africa that has had success in defeating the AIDS epidemic, did so by stressing.... here it comes... Abstinence. Not self gratification city Condoms, but Abstinence.

And what does his fiancee David have to say about their impending nuptials?

"The dissenting voices are part of the reason that we are doing this thing. The extremism in America is getting more and more polarised. The Pope is very openly anti-gay."

Let me get this straight. Part of the reason why you're getting married is because of the "extremism" in America, because the Pope is "very openly anti-gay," and because of the "dissenting voices?"

I'd hope you were getting married for more than that. But hey, it's a free world, and you can go to whatever ceremony you like and call it a "marriage." You're only fooling yourself.

A bit huge honkin' hat tip to Relapsed Catholic.

Over and done with...

Much has been made over Harper's initial foray into Same Sex Marriage barely a couple days into the campaign.

Harper went out of his way during his opening news conference Tuesday to put on the record that a Conservative government would allow a free vote on restoring the traditional definition of marriage.

Here's a shocker: a Canadian politician takes a stand on an issue that he has always taken.

The Conservative leader's decision to dive headlong into the debate mere minutes into the campaign sent many pundits' jaws dropping to the floor, in the belief they had witnessed the first misstep of the eight-week race.

Yesterday, however, the verdict was less decisive as some concluded it was part of a deliberate, offensive strategy intended to help Harper get the issue out of the way and focus his campaign on the central themes of accountability and taxes. (link)

It could be very well true that Harper did this dileberately. However I was left with the impression after reading several accounts of the events in question that it was the media that asked him the question. In fact one of Harper's people had to cut off reporters questions on the issue. The question as to whether or not the issue was dragged out by Harper or not is mute at this point though. It's out there.

Now the issue should be over and done with. Or at least that's what the hope is of Harper and many of the people that surround him I think. They know they've already gained as much support as they are likely to from the SSM debate. Now they want to focus on other issues. The media wouldn't like that very much.

And now the game begins. For those hoping for an actual debate on SSM - nice dreaming. To have a real debate on SSM we would need not a 30 day campaign, not a 56 day campaign but a 120 day campaign for the issue to have the adequate time to air and digest itself out in the minds of the Canadian public.

It'll be up to Defend Marriage to bring up that issue - which I suggest they do and often. I'm hoping for a television ad that urges people to find out where their local candidates stand - or at least some radio and newsprint ads. TV though is much better. Either way, it's up to them. Harper's done the best he can in his position. He's done more than many others would be willing do to. Now we'll see if he gets destroyed for having done it.

Egg Head Welfare...

Some egg heads in the NRC seem to think that boosting the number of astronauts on the ISS will somehow benefit space exploration:

The report, performed by a National Research Council (NRC) panel of scientists, found the space station a key resource for the development of technologies required for future exploration, but lacking in manpower and direction.

“[Our] charges included a review of…whether the station was really important for space exploration, and we think it is,” said panel chair Mary Jane Osborn, a professor with the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut.(link)

No it's not important for space exploration. It's egg head welfare for science buffs. How does boosting the number of people on that flying white elephant decrease the costs of going into space? How does it increase the chances that regular people get into space? How does it lead towards NASA getting to the Moon for that matter?

It doesn't. And that's the problem. All it really does is give the mad scientists more opportunities to do research...

“It’s very vital indeed since otherwise, you don’t really know what you’re doing,” Osborn said of an integrated ISS plan, adding that increasing station crew size will be a boon for scientific research. “It would allow a significant improvement.”

And there they go ahead and admit it: it's good for research. They're just window dressing their request so that it seems like it's in line with the vision for space exploration. In reality, I don't think these people give one ayota about space exporation. For them this is about research.

We've been spending the last 30 years "researching" among other things how mildew grows in space. The first time NASA went to the Moon we didn't need a huge Internationally supported space station to support a darn thing. And mildew growth just didn't seem like such a pressing issue down here.

NASA just went. They planted a flag in the ground, and spent the next 30 years trying to justify their existence by scientific research.

Research is all fine and dandy. But most of it apparently can be done on terra firma and that wasn't the original promise of space exploration.

The original promise of space exploration was that humanity would one day reach the stars. Maybe we should get back to keeping that promise?