The blog post where I sound like a conservative

A lot of people, Liberals and non-Liberals, are bashing the budget for having essentially "nothing" in it. It seems a hobby today for Liberals to self-immolate over Dion's decision to support the budget. Of course when people say there is nothing in a budget they mean no new, big, suprising, expensive announcements. Because budgets, of course, still have everything from pretty much every past budget in them (except for green auto rebates and a certain foundation).

It seems we have become so used to prosperity and big announcement budgets (damn, I'm sounding like Andrew Coyne here) that we forget there was a time when governments had to decide what spending to cut in budgets. So it is very much not true that this budget had nothing. There is some important new spending in this budget. Hundreds of millions of dollars for students and the auto industry. That is not nothing. Tax-sheltered capital gains (I'm not saying that's a good thing). You might not like the budget, or what the government is spending money on, but it is not the government's job to surprise Canadians with new extravagant spending in every budget.

/end conservative rambling

Anonymity

Waiting for Finance website to load is frustrating. Meanwhile, on the CBC site, further evidence why news sites should not have comment pages:

Reader Comment by J Simpson

What's done, is done. Nothing is going to change that, the families will have to deal with it without the taxpayers spending obscene amounts of money.

2nd Pickton trial may not go ahead, families told

Disgusting

Douchebag of the week

Financed by the Bank of Ma and Pa

You really need to pick up the paper version of the Globe with the giant photos to realize what a douchebag this Kieran Thomas is. Boo f***ing hoo, a couple makes only $170 000. Without Mommy and Daddy "I would have had to wait until I was 30 or 35 before my first condo." On Thursday I am flying to Vancouver just to punch this guy in the junk.

Afghan vote

I could be wrong, but this whole Van Loan Afghanistan thing does not seem smart to me. Are the Tories losing their strategic edge?

Albertans for Trudeau?

So, browsing through the news this morning I noticed the following headline: Justin Trudeau to outline vision for Canada's future

My first instinct was "Who the hell cares about Justin Trudeau's vision for Canada's future?" But then scrolling down I got my answer with another headline: Tories pounce on Trudeau stance

Great, I thought, what stupid crap did Trudeau go on about that made the Tories so happy? Harper's buddy and unelected Senator Cabinet Minister Michael Fortier had this to say about Trudeau:

"It confirms what a lot of people know already, that these people are completely disconnected from reality."

Wow, Trudeau must have really screwed up this time. So what did Trudeau say that was so detached from reality?

...he said any conferral of special status on Quebec or recognition as a nation creates divisions between Canadians, and he wondered, as many have, just who exactly the Québécois nation includes.

"Does it include everyone who lives in Quebec? Is it those who are old-stock Québécois?..."

Wow, what kind of crazy person would say or think that? Wait, I know. Pretty much every Canadian I know, including a good chunk of Quebeckers. It's truly a bizarro day when Justin friggin' Trudeau seems more plugged into the beliefs of average Canadians, and average Albertans, than a Conservative cabinet minister. It seems that perhaps getting into cabinet without actually having to talk to Canadians can distort your views of the public.

Fortier said the nation recognition is widely supported, not only in Quebec, but across the country, and that any criticism of it ultimately serves the Conservative cause.

You think so? I certainly don't. Fortier doesn't actually have to worry about what Canadians support of course, being a Senator and all, but his first shot at trying seems not to have gone so well. I guess now we have the answer to the question "Who's more detached from reality than a Trudeau?"

inverse relationship

We were having a discussion the other day in class about politics and the internet, and whether it is worth it to enter into political debates online. Does anyone ever change their mind based on what they read on the internet?

I have a personal theory about online political discussions. It seems that, for news sites, the level of debate is inversely proportional to the reputation of the site. I have found some very interesting and intriguing comments on a number of the political blogs I read, both liberal and conservative.

On the other hand, I just read this article on CTV, predicting that Canada will likely face a very cold winter. With trepidation I scrolled down to see the predictable "Cold winter! Global warming is a hoax! All Chretien's fault!" comments. Had this been the Globe and Mail, the comments would have basically been drooling lunacy, generally recommending tin foil hats. Why do the wackos go to the traditional mainstream media sites? Shouldn't they be hanging out on their 'special' sites? Isn't that what the internet is for?

Colbert would be proud

Paul Wells writes about Conservapedia, which he is not making up.

You will find that all 9 of the top articles are about homosexuality, and the main entry on homosexuality has 81% of the traffic of the main page. Yikes.

Galago Rescue

Ottawa photographer Suzanne Bird tells the shocking story of Spanish hunting Greyhounds - Galagos. Hundreds of thousands of these dogs are tortured in Spain every year and ten thousand are slaughtered in the most inhumane way possible. You can read about it here, but it's very disturbing.

You can visit the Galago Rescue Network here: www.galgorescue.org

Pop

Googleplexed

It's no big surprise that Google is the number one search engine, but it did surprise me that only 64% of American searches are through Google. 23% of Americans use Yahoo? I hope Canada's better than that...

Journalism

Mulroney lashes out at Trudeau!
The Betrayal - Lucien Bouchard

Notes from my history class? No, newspaper headlines... from the last two days. Wow, I've heard of slow news days, but seriously. What's next? Charlottetown Accord in Trouble? Internet becomes popular?

Motebello and police provocateurs

Ok, this is fucking crazy and I didn't believe it until I saw the video. There are three "anarchists" at the Montebello protests trying to stir up shit - holding rocks, advancing on the police line, etc. A union leader, Dave Coles, is trying to disarm the situation and get the guys to piss off. Some other protesters accuse the three men of being police "provocateurs" - trying to cause trouble to give the police an excuse to move in. After some scuffling Coles gets pissed off and tries uncovering the men's bandannas. The men are then absorbed into the police line and "arrested" and taken away. It seems pretty obvious to me that the men were in cahoots with the cops.

Ain't easy

So, if you try to conserve energy by not using your air conditioner, but end up so sweaty you need extra showers, are you really any further ahead?

Blogberry - travelling

Barb, Echo, Joanna, and I are on our way back to Ottawa. Things wikipedia has helped us find out:
*Covered bridges protect their wooden support structures enabling them to last longer
*"Brew" was indeed the younger dog on The Raccoons

Vacation

For those not in the know, I am currently on vacation in Newfoundland. We left Ottawa on Friday - we being me, Barb, Echo, and Barb's friend Shannon - and stayed in a sketchy motel in St Antonine, Quebec. We had some car trouble along the way, but fortunately we just had to take a couple breaks to let it cool down (and I think we've now fixed the problem). We made it to North Sydney well in advance of our 1:30am ferry on Sunday morning. Then our ferry was delayed and we didn't depart until 4am. Fortunately we had bunks booked and slept the whole way. Echo stayed in the car and did not seem to mind it to much. She became quite close to Shannon on the trip and looks forward to snuggling with Joanna on the way back. We dropped Shannon off in Gander around 5:30 and arrived in Twillingate around 7 on Sunday.

We've had a great time so far. We were warned we'd have awful weather, but until today it has been great. Sunny and uncharacteristically warm. Twillingate is directly in the path of the icebergs that float down from the arctic, and there have been some beautiful ones so far. We've been out in boat a couple times, and yesterday we went and checkd out an iceberg and went fishing, as the recreational fishery opened. We caught a few (including Barb's first) and had some for supper last night.

My dad; Robbie, Kayla, and Elodie; and my Uncle Cyril, Auny Cathy, and cousin Candace are all home visiting as well, so it's been a bot of a family reunion. Elodie continues to be swarmed by family and strangers alike, but is handling it quite well. She has learned to say "Echo" before "Unle Toby." There has been a lot of visiting, but otherwise it's been pretty relaxing so far. Our cellphones don't work anywhere in Newfoundland (go Rogers!) and we don't have any regular internet access. Being off the grid is fabulous.

It's a bit rainy today, so I'm not sure what we'll do with ourselves, but I'm not too worried. I have finished the sixth Harry Potter book (behind most of the world) and have started number 7, so everyone shut up about it. Barb and I are currently alternating access on the one computer in the "internet cafe" here, so I should get going. More photos on facebook...

Eat a sammich, or get off our campus

What would happen if a campus banned a student for having AIDS? For being an alcoholic? A University of Northern Colorado student has been banned from campus for being anorexic. Apparently that violates the school's code of "conduct." They have even posted the girl's photo on the internet in case she is spotted trying to learn.

Two Years

From Robbie

Facebook killed the Blog-io Star

Hi, how's it going? Whatcha been up to?...

Hockey has been nerve-wracking, but I have a good feeling about tonight. The "Sens Mile" on Saturday was impressive. Apparently people in Ottawa can have fun. I can't help but find it a pale imitation of the Red Mile, but it's certainly a better attempt than Edmonton (stabby stabby).

I will be off the grid for a while, as I go to Vancouver for CASA. How many freakin' conferences do we have anyway? Hopefully I will be able to breathe long enough to enjoy Vancouver. Get back on June 12th for a brief requiem before Calgary.

Turning shit into solid gold, or, the only time Toby will quote Matt Good in a blog title

Even CEO Can't Figure Out How RadioShack Still In Business

FORT WORTH, TX—After a thorough review of the its operations, RadioShack CEO Julian Day could provide no real explanation for the analog-riddled company's staying power.

This Onion article addresses an issue that has often fascinated me. RadioShack has changed a bit here in Canada since become "the Source," but I always wondered why anyone would buy things at RadioShack. I mean I shopped there for cables and other miscellaneous geekery, but they also sold computers and TVs and other things you could get for way cheaper at department stores or Future Shop. Does the entire company stay afloat on people like me needing Y-adapters and RCA cables?

On a related topic, I still wonder how Music World stays afloat. Their entire business model seems predicated upon
setting up in Malls with HMV and then selling every single item for $2-$5 more.

Not Photoshopped

This partially makes up for my post-Flames game mood. This picture is from a Sens-oilers game that Barb went to with a bunch of Oil fans. She is the one sitting down. In the Sens shirt. I think the sign says it all though.

Small Bells

Is Paul Wells really allowed to bash the Globe's new layout? Has he looked at the Maclean's website, which is quite possibly the ugliest thing on the internet outside of Senator's personal pages?

Cats

FPTP, PR & MMP

In the upcoming Ontario election voters will have the unique opportunity (well, BC and PEI have done it, so not so unique) to vote in a referendum on a new electoral system. The Ontario Citizen's Assembly is recommending a Mixed Member Proportional system. Under MMP Ontarians would elect 90 riding MPPs the way they currently do. Then there would be 30 additional representatives from party lists to even out the legislature to match the popular vote.

I'll talk about it later, but what do others have to say? Well, The National Post says "You know, Hitler liked proportional representation..." and Andrew Coyne responds "WTF?"

Virginia

Tragedies like today's never cease to bring out the douchebaggery in the media. CNN felt the need to have MASSACRE and SHOOTING SPREE splayed across the screen at the same time. Every station had 'experts' on talking about what 'might' have been the motive. 48 hours promises to have an "anatomy of a massacre" tomorrow - what futurists they are. The 24 hour news cycle is not an excuse for this kind of callous reporting, I mean many of the students' families don't know what's happened yet. CNN referred to one reporter's vigil outside the campus. Not exactly the sort of vigil these people need right now.

Captain Planet

Wow

BELINDA STRONACH TAKES ON NEW CHALLENGES

PRESS RELEASE (For Immediate Release)

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

AURORA, ONTARIO --- The Honourable Belinda Stronach, Member of Parliament for Newmarket and Aurora, today announced that she would assume the position of Executive Vice-Chair of Magna International Inc. effective immediately, and simultaneously, she will not stand for re-election as a Member of Parliament in the next federal election.

"I am always assessing the best role I can play in public life, and, after being encouraged by members of the corporate leadership at Magna to return, I have decided that the timing of my return to the business should not be delayed. My father is looking to the future, the company is facing important strategic decisions, and the Canadian and global auto sector and economy is in a period of great challenge," said Belinda Stronach. "So I am stepping aside from elected politics for the time being and will now take part in public life in a different way."

"There are other considerations behind my decision that are important to me. The heavy demands of public life on family time are real, and as a mother I want to spend some more time with my kids" added Stronach. "And I remain concerned with the issue of global security for the coming decades, and will continue to work towards ending extreme poverty and disease in Africa. I will be involved increasingly in this work through such initiatives as www.spreadthenet.org and through the creation of a personal foundation."

"It has been an honour and privilege to serve the people from my community of Newmarket and Aurora and I thank them again for having placed their trust in me.

I will continue to represent the interests of the constituents I serve until such time as a federal election is called. I also plan to continue to play an active role in the community," emphasized Stronach.

Belinda Stronach noted that she had informed The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Senator Marie-P.Poulin, President of the Liberal Party of Canada, of her decision earlier today. She affirmed her interest in continuing to play an active and constructive role in the growth of the Liberal Party in areas like the recruitment of women into politics, fundraising and the modernization of the Liberal Party, including one member, one vote.

-- 30 --

For further information, please contact Greg MacEachern at (613) 882 5533

University of Toronto to Sell-Off Tobacco Industry Holdings

University of Toronto to Sell-Off Tobacco Industry Holdings

Decision also Prohibits Future Investments in Tobacco

TORONTO, April 9 /CNW/ - After more than a year of petitioning and deliberation, the University of Toronto will be the first institution of higher education in Canada to divest from the tobacco industry, paving the way for others to follow. For the members of E-BUTT (Education-Bringing Youth Tobacco Truths), a student group at U of T, the decision marks a positive end to a long journey.
"It is an amazing feeling to see all of our efforts over the past year come together and lead to the right decision," said Tyler Ward, University of Toronto student and president of E-BUTT. "U of T president David Naylor made the right decision by not only divesting, but also prohibiting future investments in the tobacco industry, whos products kill more than 50 per cent of long-term users and harm the health of countless others."
U of T joins Ivy League university Harvard, as well as Stanford and Johns Hopkins, becoming the 24th institution of higher education in North America to divest its tobacco holdings. According to Naylor, the fact that "there is no serious academic or social debate about tobacco's health effects," along with the position taken on this issue by sister institutions, partner institutions and countries around the world helped him decide to accept E-BUTT's proposal.
"Against that background, our continued investment in tobacco companies was arguably something of a proverbial elephant in the room," continued Naylor. "It was our students - led by E-BUTT - who decided their university, the University of Toronto, should take a leadership position on this issue."
UTAM (University of Toronto Asset Management) has been instructed by Naylor to begin the divestment process immediately. As of December 31, 2005, U of T held approximately $10.5-million of tobacco industry stock, with investments in Japan Tobacco ($4.6 million), Altria Group Inc. ($4.5-million) and Rothmans Inc. ($1.4-million).



For further information: Tyler Ward, (416) 912-7079,
ebutt.studentaffairs@utoronto.ca

sick

I seem to come down with an awful cold every April. I thought I was going to avoid it this year, as Barb had one for a while and I didn't catch it, but on Tuesday the cold spontaneously arrived. My head has felt like it is going to explode. Fortunatel the sore throat seems to be gone now as the cold goes through its annual paces. I managed to drug myself up and go out for Caen's birthday last night which was an Honest Lawyer good time. Also, drunk Caen, who doesn't come out all that often (Sober Toby, Joanna, and Phil were there too, who are equally rare).

I wanted to go to Toronto this weekend to visit my Nan, but I believe I am too sick to travel, as I hate that drive at the best of times. Phil is in NY, Sarah is in Vegas, and James is in South America. Toby is jealous. To top it off, Ottawa has decided to drop below zero again.

What day is it?

Enjoy. I was actually fooled for about 10 minutes last night by Google Paper...

Patio time

One of the things I love most about Canada is that the second any significant signs of spring show up, people go into full summer mode. Today we took Echo to a pub patio for a drink. Sure we went at like 7pm, and it was like 7 degrees and I nearly froze, but goddamn it, I was drinking on a patio.

Thought:

If I drove a poutine truck to Calgary, would I make enough along the way to cover my costs? Do they like poutine in northern Ontario?