Well, I guess it's time to get back to doing what I do best:

Providing you with reasons why you con't vote for the parties currently in the House.

As I said to my Dad, we wanna vote out the Liberals, we really do, but God, Stephen Harper does his utmost to make that impossible. Well there's always the party that I ran for last federal election, the Progressive Canadian Party now in dazzling four-colour (Red, Blue, Green, and Purple) Toryvision TM!

Lets take a look over at 58 year old investment banker (and retired RCAF Lt. Col.) Laurie Hawn's Blog to see what he has to say this incredibly current October 7th

-Word to the wise Laurie, the kids on the 'internet' like to see relatively current content. I try to keep my absences down to a week at most unlike a certain Steve Smith who will remain nameless... actually, I just named him so maybe not.

Oh my, it's a rant on the indignities committed on the justice system by "The Liberal governments of Trudeau, Chretien and Martin" I didn't realise that Laurie missed the meeting where the most considerable roll backs and liberalisation of Canadian law when it comes to the rights of the convicted and accused came during the Mulroney government, where Abortion was fully legalised and not revisited, where capital punishment was reaffirmed as abolished, and where Brian Mulroney used international pressure to ensure that a government was formed in South Africa that avoided ethnic violence to a great degree thanks to the Truth and Reconciliation commission, a body that would fly in the face of what Laurie refers to as, "the concept of consequence for behaviour."

And by the way, no where in this essay can Laurie seem to differentiate between accused and convicted, or perhaps he believes that the convicted should be deprived of due process on subsequent trial, either way it's a chilling thought that this man could be in a cabinet influencing the justice minister. Of course its more chilling, given the shadow cabinet, that Vic Toews could become Justice Minister, but that's a column for another day.

He goes on to excorciate the justice dept. for failing to return convictions in the Air India bombing. Gee Laurie, it couldn't have anything to do with the fact that the accused were not found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt could it? Quoth Laurie:

"According to Air India Victims’ Families Association, Rae’s November report will recommend that we do hold a public inquiry. I don’t know how much this decision process cost taxpayers, but whatever the amount, it is too much. The answer was obvious from the start, and I was under the impression that we were paying Cabinet Ministers like Anne McLellan to make decisions. Does Mr. Dithers have a counterpart?"

1. The AIVFA should not have advance knowledge of a report and if they did, it certainly shouldn't have been leaked by them.

2. Free and fair justice is always cheaper for a democratic society than the rule of the mob. Sure we could have created the preception of action with a brick wall and a handful of bullets, but that misses the point, that we cannot become our enemy in the name of fighting our enemy. The common law system of justice, rather than the Cromwell system of justice must prevail.

To back up the comparison to Th' O.C. I submitt: "You have been here too long for any good you have been doing! Get out!"

3. It's really passe to call Paul Martin Mr. Dithers. I submit Paul the frightendest rabbit. Also, Yes, her name is Sheila Martin.

Laurie attacks the irony of Paul Coffin (convicted fraudster who will never find work in his chosen field again) teaching ethics as part of his sentence. Who better to tell you that fire is hot than someone with third degree burns? The term you're looking for Laurie is Poetic Justice. Irony would be a party preaching about integrity while owing one of their former leadership candidates $70,000 in donations, which are two years overdue.

Laurie continues by mentioning the Rozko shooting. Saying that the justice system failed by not classifying James Rozko as a dangerous offender.

Little arguement here, but with "44 charges and 14 convictions, many of them for violent crimes," I beg to ask the question, why the flimsy conviction rate? Quite simply many who had the opportunity to put this man away for a long, long, time failed to come forward, failed to demand protection, and failed to assert thier rights as witnesses. The solution is not to deny the accused the right to face their accuser. The solution is for the accuser to be knowedeable about their rights and obligations.

He then asserts that prisoners, who now have the right to vote (not the privilidge Laurie, but the right, rights aren't dependent upon good behaviour) are likely voting for the party that set up this cushy rehabilitative justice system.

1. Prisoners are punished by denying them interaction with society and by removing their self determination. They eat when they are told to eat, work when they are told to work and sleep when they are told to sleep, and resistence is met with discipline. Not violence, no water boarding, or sleep deprivation to the point of incoherence, or any other form of previously sanctioned torture, referred to as corporal punishment. One does not teach respect for human rights by stripping them away.

2. Davie Fulton was the Progressive Conservative justice minister who launched a 15 year rehabilitation effort, which carried through Trudeau's first two mandates. I for one doubt that the prisoners voted for me, but surely since my devious two-man campaign was able to trick upwards of 3 seniors into misreading a ballot on which there was a Conservative Party and a PC Party, I must have had to really pull the prison vote to get my whopping 0.8% of the popular vote.

Then these outright falsehhoods:

"The Liberal Party is in favour of legalizing marijuana and prostitution."

The Liberal party had a debate at their last convention. They are in favour of decriminalisation which is to say misdemeanor instead of felony charges on marijuana. The fact that speeding gets you a fine and not jail time is not to say that speeding has been legalised, merely decriminalised.

Also you either a) don't know that prostitution is illegal, but the solicitation thereof is not, or b) have just acknowedged that the communication law is a de facto illegalisation of prostitution and ought to be rationalised into a truly regulated system or banned. I am in favour of the former, as I do not feel that prostitution is an a priori degredation, hoever the expolitation that has followed its illegality is.

Laurie climaxes with this winner:

"It’s time that the justice system stood up for law-abiding Canadians rather than criminals. It’s time for a Government that will stand up for Canadians and Stand Up For Canada!"

The justice system is supposed to stand up for both it is supposed to protect the rights of the law abiding and strictly regulate the imposition of sanction upon the criminal. These sanctions are designed to make the criminal no longer a criminal, not to assuage the wounded honour of the victimised. Ideally the responsibility of the criminla is to make justice through restitution and growth, but some people who feel that justice can be exacted impersonally and at the press of a button or stroke a key, seem to carry a concept completely divorced from justice, that of vengance.

Mr. Hawn, I would submit that you demand vengance where justice is needed and I look forward to working towards your defeat in the next election.

Good day.

To point out a few things:

On October 20th Conservative MP John Reynolds accused Deputy PM Anne McLellan of interfering in a $200M defense contract in her riding.

On October 26th SPAR loses the contract. A sad thing for Edmonton, a sad day for SPAR, but thankfully for Anne McLellan, the end of Conservative pot shots over the contract, no?

-Ken Beleshko, an aviation and aerospace consultant, says he doubts politics played a role in who got the six-year maintenance contract.
"We have the number two person in the federal cabinet, really, here in Edmonton, where Spar's located," Beleshko said, referring to Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan. "IMP, which is the other contender of the three, is located in Nova Scotia, and they, in fact, are in the backyard of Scott Bryson, who's the minister of the department who let the contract.
"So it's pretty hard to suggest there's been some political end run done, especially in B.C., where we don't really see any federal heavy weights there."

Apparently not.

So the Conservatives start the week by calling McLellan on interfering in the SPAR bid, and then they attack her for not being involved in the SPAR bid.

This leads me to 3 possible conclusions:

1. John Reynolds hadn't consulted with Laurie Hawn, meaning one or both are out of the loop

2. Laurie Hawn was too much the partisan to 'get involved' until Annie's political future had been damaged, but after that he was glad to put the short sword to a retreating Reynolds.

3. They're hypocrites.

Condaleeza Rice said of the American committment to NAFTA:

"Our word is as good as gold"

From Wikipedia:

"...on August 15, 1971, without consulting members of the international monetary system or his own State Department, Nixon unilaterally imposed 90-day wage and price controls, a 10% import surcharge, and most importantly "closed(ing) the gold window," making the dollar inconvertible to gold directly, except on the open market."

So when Condi says, "Our word is as good as gold." She means, our word is an abstract commodity whose worth is mainly determined by its rarity, and the abstract value that investors seem to place upon it.

But that's just my definition.

Bob Bradley: Still Freakin' Annoying.

Also he doesn't exist. It's like he's a BNL lyric or something.

Bob Bradley has nothing on this guy:

Saw the Frontline documentary on Karl Rove and something occoured to me. A man whose job is ensuring that elections are framed in such a way that those that are most likely to come from the extreme right are the most likely to vote is not the disease, he is the symptom of a society that refuses to be active, questioning, open to change, and shuns the sort of back handed, grease the wheel politics that drive Karl Rove, Rod Love, and a host of others that I lay into whenever given the chance.

In essence, it's your fault you don't have better leaders you dried out, beaten down, ignorant sheep.

In political geek news I am offering an open challenge:

I have come into to the posession of a game known as the Great Canadian Pie. In this game it is your job to play a provincial premier, or the Canadian prime minister. Your goal is to fund your social programs. You can do this by separating, or by co-operating and trying to keep your fellow premiers in confederation. If you're the PM the game is supposed to end with all provinces in confederation for you to win.

Much like the book Elephants: A Federal or Provincial Matter? This is the kind of game that only the Canadian people could produce.

I have the agreement of Steve Smith, I now need 7 more hacks to play this game properly. So LEAVE A COMMENT YOU BASTARDS! letting me know that you would like to play. Like real politics there will be booze involved, but you will not be forced to imbibe, merely encouraged.

So until next time, strive for that great, Ooh! My pizza's here...

And so my epic battle begins against the political boy genius that is Bob Bradley:

I already knew that Bob Bradley was a political operator of brillaince never before seen. He was a man so brilliant that when he saw that a campaign he was attatched to was going down in flames, he quietly arranged things so that he never existed, slipping into the shadows to make Paul Martin, Kevin Taft, Debbie Carlson, and Jung Suk Ryu, look like sheer political amateurs who had crafted a man out of thin air to be the scape goat for when the Jung Suk Bandwagon inevitably carried Doc Brown and Clara Clayton into the ravine, but in the end Mary Steinburgen still birthed Nixon and James Woods was bound for jail.

And why did Bob Bradley desert Jung Suk in his hour of glib? Could it possibly be political thoughts like:

"Andy Hladyshevsky is running as a candidate for the Liberal nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona. I have never met the guy, but my good friend Sheila McKay is a big supporter of him, so I think I will probably support him as well. It will be a tight race. George Hodgson (who was a big name during the last federal election) and Ellen Sheck (sp?) (a professor at the University of Alberta) are the other candidates running in the nomination race. I hate nominations, though. They split the party apart, and the losers of the nominations and their supporters just vanish once the nomination is done."

Ah yes, certainly someone who is unwilling to acknowledge the necessity of multiple interested candidates is unworthy for the support of B.B.

Or there's this delicious analysis that must have provoked Bradley's contempt:

"I like Stephen Harper as leader as the Conservative Party of Canada. As long as the media pokes fun at him, his staff leave him, and his Quebec supporters backstab him, the Liberal Party of Canada will have no problem winning a majority government in the next election."

Yes, if everybody hates Stephen, then he will lose. You just can't get more detailed analysis.

But surely Bob Bradley will blanch at this wonderful bit of anti-ericism (Hatred of the Irish):

"I am going to buy Peter Newman's book. What do Irish people drink? [my emphasis] Brian Mulroney should be thankful that there aren't people lined up to sue him for some of the blatant accusations that he has made. And what a way to burn your protege, Kim Campbell? Screwing around with her Russian boyfriend? My God."

Jung Suk Ryu has engaged in a viscious stereo-typing of my people [the drunken mick] and this cannot be allowed. Bob Bradley, I beseech you (assume/reassume) corporeal form and smite this huckster one and for all.

And finally thank you 94% of ward 5 voters for demolishing this man's exceptionally well funded campaign in 2001, you are owed a great debt of gratitude.


And now for the clincher:


And just for those of you that still believe that Bob Bradley, Jung Suk Ryu's campaign co-ordinator, actually exists I post the following knowing full well my cognisance of the libel laws in Canada:

The aforementioned Bob Bradley swallowed Chairman Meow alive and laughed hysterically until drinking barbicide and passing out on my front porch at 7:22 AM yesterday morning.

Jung-Suk Ryu: J-S Superstar! This man is the master of the Liberal Photo-Op. With equal verve...


















He can take a picture with a lifeless husk of once vibrant life...

Or a clam shell.

I want your feedback. Who looks more pained here?

Also there is a kitten missing in my neighbourhood. It answers to the name 'Chairman Meow'. If you find it, please begin giggling hysterically.

Two roads diverged and I, I took the one the whip told me to, or else I'd lose my seat in the next election.

Forgive the italicisation but this is a day of sorrow, of poetry, an elegy for the beauty of representative government and the only party in the House of Commons that ever appears to give any inkling of understanding what that means.

Bev Desjarlais, New Democrat Member of Parliament since 1997, voted against a bill passed by the Liberals to introduce same-sex marriage last year. I feel she voted wrongly as she was presented with a bill that would give same sex partnerships the same legal, social, and economic rights under the law. That was what I said I'd vote for, call it same sex marriage or civil union I'd bite at the first lure on the line. Bev, citing both the concerns of her constituents, but by no means a representative sample of the riding, and her own personal feelings voted no. It was a slap in the face to Jack Layton's belief that MP's are delegates of the party leadership. As a result she was marginalised and when the time came for a three-term MP to be re-nominated she faced a five way race. Open Progressive Conservative nominations in Rural Alberta aren't that hotly contested and they're virtually guranteed seats.

Jack Layton says he wasn't involved, though from all apparent signs it appears he was neutral in much the same way that Pearson was neutral on Trudeau's ascession to the leadership: Nothing was said in public, but rest assured he wanted the right result and let it be quietly known. Sheila Copps knows all about that sort of neutrality.

But don't take my word for it let's see what the chatteratti have to say about Bev Desjarlais' loss and the sorrow of the NDP:

"I'll take a chance on her [nominee Niki Ashton] over a known bigot."

"I couldn't be more pleased. One more homophobic bigot put on the boat. Bye,bye Bev. Too bad, so sad. Enjoy life after politics... "

"Best of luck to Niki Ashton. I hope the seat stays in NDP hands, but better a Liberal than Desjarlais. She was a stain on the whole caucus. "

"justice 1, bigots 0."

"The Dark Side freaks are saddened by her defeat now.... "

"If Bev had abstained she would still be the candidate."

"However belated, it's nice to see that there is a price to be paid in the NDP for being a bigot."

There's this lovely little exchange:

quote:
Originally posted by corkyfan:It's too bad that Bev lost, that'll make one less sensible MP for the NDP. And over what? SSM? Just goes to show yet again that the Federal NDP is turning into a monoculture of Jack clones.

[Response]Allow me to be the first in a long line of babblers to tell you to fuck off.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish. Bev will no longer be a thorn in the side to good NDPers everywhere."

"So, I wonder what story the right wing media is going to come up with to say that Layton orchestrated this entire thing. "

The story appeared on CBC as you saw above.

"In my books party loyalty means accepting defeat graciously, not quitting the party and trying to split the vote to defeat the democratically chosen candidate."

"Strange that she didn't mention her plans to run as an independent if she lost. Maybe she can sit beside Pat O'Bigot now."

"Na na na na, na na na na, Desjarlais hey, goodbye."

Re: Bev: "At the very least, she's going to learn how to get along on a whole lot less money. "

And what is without hyperbole the gretest comparison in the history of everything:

"When she voted against equal marriage, she voted in favour of denying homosexuals their basic humanity. "

And finally, in the name of sexual equality:

"If you're talking about Niki being young, i'm sure I speak for many in stating the obvious... she's also pretty damn attractive.I recommend trying to get her on tv as often as possible. Young males will come out to vote ndp in droves!
Niki Ashton
New Democratic Party - the sexiest party in Canada "

Yep, the party of tolerance strikes again.

Bev Desjarlais disagrees with me on SSM, but she agrees with me on something much more fundamental: The notion that Edmund Burke had of trusteeship:

"Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion."

This is the same for stupid servants of the party as it is for stupid servants of the constituent.
The tired populist says that our leaders should govern by polls and then castigates them for cowardice when they do.
The righteous partisan says that our representatives should be worship at the foot of the flag and be grateful for the privilidge and then laments the vacum of personality.
The passionate trustee knows that she would not have sought to serve, if she had nothing to offer.

Bev Desjarlais, MP, will be running in the next election.

Give 'em hell.

Political Research: Best conducted over pints of beer.

Watched the Oilers game last night. Makes for a bad day of work to kill your teams chances by deflecting a shot bound for the opposing team's net setting up an empty net goal by catching the puck with your face, causing a small puddle of blood to appear on the ice. Ow.

Afterwards went to a loud crowded bar on Whyte, lost at darts and ran into a gorgeous young New Democrat. Her assessment of Jack Layton:

"Jack's a used car salesman"

I couldn't put it better myself.

By the by:

Joe Clark: If Anthony Lamer (forgive the stretched reference) and Bryan Mulroney come to your office to talk shop you'll feel exactly like I did at work last night. Mainly invaded, that these people who you had rejected refuse to allow you your own life back, that they've stopped by your small professor's office as a sort of means of keeping score. That they're out to check up and remind you that you aren't winning that they have accomplished much more than you and that they haven't given up their souls doing so. You'd put on a patina of civility, but inside you'd want to point out that they hadn't much in the way of integrity to begin with and that the aren't welcome here. That you're waiting for a pretext a reason to exercise your power. You're paying attention, you're studying for weakness, and when given the chance you will grip the blade tightly and thrust upwards.

You're not a true Tory until you've been stabbed in the back.

Sorry to disembowl myself there, but it's the best way to give you the measure of a man.

And Joan Jett sings her bitter song of oppression: I love Rock and Roll.

I finally forced myself to watch the tape of the 'brutal' arrest of the retired schoolteacher in New Orleans. It is worse than advertised.

Once at work I saw a drunk man punch a car and the two officers rush out and bring him to the ground. They did not need to punch him and did not.

The officers in New orleans repeatedly struck this man in the head while his hands were restrained. The mounted officer seemed to have nothing better to do than obscure the view of onlookers. A large officer arriving late on the scene and not having appeared to consult with the officers confronted the onlookers throtleing one against a nearby car.

I am glad we have competent officers in this city but in New Orleans, who will police the police?

It's almost cute when neo-cons attempt economic analysis.

William McBeath, the one and only William McBeath, who has in all of his wisdom declared me to not be a real conservative, is crowing about the fact that the SDP Allowed Andrea Merkel to become chancellor in exchange for SDP control over key economic ministries. Says that the German economy is a mess. This is true. The deficit is expected to hit 3.7-4% of GDP. This is half again as large at the US deficit expressed as a % of GDP.

To put it in terms that a Conservative party member can understand, per capita on a budgetary level the Germans are the cost of one and three-quarter unjustified invasions of Iraq (in 2003 alone) behind the U.S. in terms of budgetary deficits. so the Germans will owe an additional 1.1-1.4% of thier income at the national level this year. This of course discounts the fact that the Germans spend far more as a percentage at the Federal level than does the United States, and thus are likely to overstate thier National deficits in comparison to the Americans (same goes for Canada's surpluses).

But I'm too damn lazy to determine the difference with the deficits of every level of German and American government, so I'll give Will the benefit of the doubt and keep everything (A declining American private savings rate, rising US interest rates, combined with a plummetting dollar, massive trade deficit, and a massive disparity on 'wasted' productivity, such as the Americans spending an additional 3% of GDP on litigation, 5% on healthcare, etc. than do the Germans) equal, or, as we people who actually kind of understand the economy like to say, ceteris paribus.

So that puts the Germans 1.4% behind. Then there's the massive difference in Per Capita GDP according to OECD $39,496 to $28,988 in the Americans' favour. Holy Crap! That's a lot of money. What would you do with an additional $10,508 US in your pocket? Why you'd probably take 415 hours off work. Because while the average American work year is 1777 hours, the average German work year is 1362 work hours. Yes you'd have the full time equivalent of 10 and one-third weeks extra work to net that 10 Grand. And that's if you're workig full time. So the difference in GDP per hour worked is actually about 4% in America's favour. Don't forget too that there are far fewer Gernam jobs that, even while working full time (defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics [US] as 35 hours a week) would land you under the poverty line, as is the case in a lot of American employment.

But hey, at least there are lots of jobs in the States, right? The Americans have about a 6% unemployment rate in Sept of 2004, while the Germans have an 11% unemployment rate. Sharing the jobs, more gets done. Well, sadly not so. See the American Unempolyment rate discounts discouraged workers (those that aren't really looking for work), marginal workers, and those who are part time of economic necessity, like a temporary slowdown, which can become a great way to thin out the pay roll as those working part time often are motivated to find full-time employment, the working unemployed so to speak. The American rate climbs to 9.4% when all of these are factored in.

The Germans however have such generous unemployment benefits, that only those who are retired stop fulfilling the requirements for unemployment, which if memory serves reqires one apply for two jobs a month. And in addition subsidized part-time jobs (workfare without the starvation wages) are also provided giving German small businesses cheap unskilled labour. That's one thing about a subsidy, you'll get more of whatever you subsidize, in this case unskilled labour instead of skilled labour, thus causing part of the sluggish growth in German productivity. So essentially workfare, Mike Harris' pet parsimony, is one of the many 'regulations' slowing down the German economic machine.

So surely the rich German system of benefits will mean that that 4% gap can only get larger? The Americans have projected GDP growth of 3.5%, while the Germans are calling for 1.7%. This means that next year the Krauts will be 5 1/2% behind, and in three years 9% behind, and so on until they are but a distant third-world memory...





WRONG!!! The Germans have projected real GDP growth (Growth minus inflation) of 1.7% with inflation of about 2% according to Price Waterhouse Coopers. That's a nominal (ignoring the effect of inflation, which is kind of silly) Growth rate of 3.7% According to a Reuters story on October 9th, the Americans will post a Nominal growth rate of 3.5%, but what's this? Inflation for 2005 is expected to be 3.3% Well that means a real GDP growth rate of 0.2%. The American economy is bogged down in more ways than one. The Germans could expect to surpass the Americans in lifestyle enjoyment by 2008 at this rate.



So maybe William is wrong. Maybe a seller's market for labour has its advantages. Maybe a restained market which still allows for innovation in the production processes of goods is a veritable economic tiger. Maybe a generous welfare state and subsidised education does a lot more to encourage worker flexibility than fear and privation. Mayber the long work week results in diminishing returns for the American worker. Maybe, just maybe the Chicago School has got it wrong.

Stay tuned for our next episode, when I will try to explain how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. Here's a hint: It's 3,781 and one-half.

4.7 You are hotter than 41% of men on this site!

That's good for the ego right? Complete non-entity? No politics today, just wasting a day of my life.

Too damn tired to format:

The Edmonton Sun has been gushing about the prosperity cheques that Ralph is sending out. Truly the premier is a man of his word.

However the Sun runs a Curatolo Cartoon declaring that the Grits with ther plan to return 1/3rd of an unexpected surplus per capita as buying voters with thier own money.

Come on. At least pretend that you're a newspaper.

Commander Scott Out.

My Neighbourhood has a Cricket Coach.

But first in more important news...

The CBC and Canadian media guild have reached an agreement. Good. Jeffrey simpson notes that the CBC has lost about 400 million to inflation over the last decade. Good point.

CJSR's Liquid Chatter (88.5 FM Thursday nights [Technically Friday Mornings] 12-1:30 AM) has asked me to be a weekly political hack. I can do that. But don't worry, you can still catch my useless fact on Sonic 102.9 FM Wednesday through Friday)

I sent the following letter to the Post today: Dollars to packs of breath freshening gum it doesn't get printed

Andrew Coyne committed some pretty sins of omission in his recent column 'Turning Vice into Virtue' in whichhe mentions The Robinson and Dingwall scenarios as reflecting a ridiculous amount of ambiguity, which should not be permissible. Might I offer yet another pair of examples:

Peter McKay first does a deal with David Orchard, fellow PC Party Leadership Candidate to not merge the PC and Alliance parties and then, mere weeks afterwards, agrees to merge the parties. So Mr. Coyne must have simply forgotten that he could have shown disgust at McKay for being just faithful enough to warrant his becoming PC leader, and just realistic enough to move with the flow of the times. Also his party fails to pay Mr. Orchard the $70,000 owing in donations sent care of the party and indended to be turned around within 48 hours (now approaching two years), even though Messrs. Chandler, Prentice, MacKay, and Brison received thier remaining monies in 2003. So the Merged party is just different enough to deny its past obligations, but not different enough to lose as they argued control over the Progressive Conservative 'trademark' when anti-merger tories went to re-register the Progressive Conservative party? I'm sure Mr. Coyne will join with me in condemning this chicanery.

As well as that of Stephen Harper who, after becoming disgusted with the ethical situation of the Martin government, allied with the Bloc Quebecois in the House of Commons to bring down the government saying that Martin had lost legitimacy. Of course shortly afterwards, in the debate on the same sex marriage bill, Mr. Harper suggested that, because the bill would not pass without the support of the Bloc Quebecois, it was illegitimate. So Mr. Harper was simply too bold a leader to pass up an opportunity to work with the Bloc or he was simply too principled to allow the separatists to determine the course of debate in Canada. I'm certain Mr. Coyne was chomping at the bit to get these very words into print, but sadly, was not afforded the space. I beseech the editors:

Allow Mr. Coyne the opportunity to write the follow-up he so richly deserves!

Sincerely,

Sean Tisdall,

Edmonton, AB

They Beat me to it:

F.Y.IThe following was posted to media across Canada and 2003 PC members in Nova Scotia.
======================Retiring Premier a class act. September 29, 2005 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEBible Hill, Nova Scotia - "Premier John Hamm will not be recorded as one of Nova Scotia's longest serving Progressive Conservative Premiers. He will be remembered as one of the classiest." said Progressive Canadian Party Leader Tracy Parsons, upon Dr. Hamm announcing his retirement after six years as Premier of Nova Scotia, and 12 years in legislature. “He has been a good, solid leader, always a gentleman and a winner when it counted.” said Parsons who worked with Premier Hamm as Director of the PC Provincial Executive,” The Nova Scotia Party has remained a PC Party despite pressures to alter its name to match that of new Conservative Party. "All PCs were please when the Halifax airport terminal was named for former N.S. premier Robert L. Stanfield "the best Prime Minister Canada never had ", whose traditions we follow.Though holding a minority government for two years, many accomplishments have been made under John Hamm’s watch, most notably the offshore revenue he managed to obtain for Nova Scotia. Leader Tracy Parsons and the members of the Progressive Canadian party wish Dr. John Hamm all the best with his future endeavors. The Progressive Canadian (PC) Party is a registered Federal Political Party comprised of progressive-conservative minded Canadians rebuilding from the roots of the former Progressive Conservative Party. For more information on the PC Party, it’s policies, structure or general information, go to www.progressivecanadian.org or call 866-812-6972.
(30)For more information or to request an interview, please contact:Jolene Jackson, Media RelationsProgressive Canadian Party(902) 877-4688 fjjackson@eastlink.ca Jim Love, President and National Campaign ManagerProgressive Canadian Party(416) 708-5519 mailto:lovej@pcparty.org

And as a result I'm bald...

Again.

So you thought you could sulk in public that quietly did you?

Stephen Mandel, Mayor of Edmonton just lost a bid to divest the city of the 8 Billion dollar sewer system and roll it into the hands of the city owned, but not city controlled, utility, Epcor, or as my dad likes to call them Epron. He lost 6-7 and upon losing berated his fellow councillors both in chambers and in print saying among other things, "There's some councillors who believe that government should do everything."

Wrong.

Those 7 councillors, including the right winger of the bunch, Mike Nickel, understand two things: If you privatise a natural monopoly, you then get to enjoy monopoly pricing, like when the city privatised Ed Tel and when the province de-regulated the electrical industry. So those things which require incredible amounts of capital to purchase and which there's no sense in building a duplicate of, like power, water, and heat grids. Should not be sold.

But wait it gets better. Mayor Mandel has now called for an audit into the sewer system. So let me get this straight. Stephen Mandel is cock sure that the privatisation of the sewer sysem is a brilliant idea, but he hadn't had an audit done? This has got to be the greatest expression of vindictiveness matched with stupidity I have seen in city politics, but then again I haven't been around that long. Stephen, Stephen, Stephen...

Every auditor finds some sort of disturbing accounting in the books of a major corporation, so you do the audit first then point to a 'shocking lapse in accountability' and then privatise the service. It also doesn't hurt if you have council raise the drainage rates to make up for a budgetary short fall so that you colaim that the high prices are the result of government waste.

Also, appoint a head of the department and then give him just enough transparent expense account to hang himself with it. It's so easy. I'm glad I'm not out to privatise the sewer system.

Besides it's government's job to take crap from other people that they had nothing to do with in the first place. If the people have shown anything it's that they believe that the government is responsible for all of the shit in their lives.

Until next time, this is Ed Mc Mahon, Center Square!

"Put the bottle down Sean."

Okay.