Ok podunkians time to help out the old Podunkmeister here, found this article on the BBC website today and it got me to thinking.
How can an Admiral be the Chief of Defence of Bolivia, Bolivia after all is a land locked country in South America with no ports, where exactly does a Navy go and what does it do? Please advise via the comments section.
With our new knowledge though we offer the Chief of Defence a great deal on some used subs we have 3 1/2 of them ready for shipment to the first sucker, er customer...
Monday, May 30, 2005
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Fast times at Rideau High!
So Canada's highest level of government has come to this, rather than a chamber of sober thought and socially redeeming legislation, we instead are treated to a bunch of adolescents who seem closer to a high school clique than those worthy of our vote, let alone our trust.
The last few weeks of drama from Parliament Hill are worthy of Dawson's Creek, The Breakfast Club or Fast times at Ridgemont High, West Wing material this is not.
Today we were treated to the after shocks of the Belinda crossing. Belinda was welcomed by her new best buddies in the Liberal Club, many of whom took to the stage to stand up for poor little Belinda who has been the victim of vitriolic exchanges from her old gang in the Conservatives.
Like kids who have changed friends in the middle of first term, they gathered around their new best friend to walk through the halls and show everyone how close they were. All that was missing was someone tripping Belinda as she walked through the cafeteria or shoving Belinda into a locker until the fourth period spare!
Later in the day Newsnet, Newsworld and All My Children featured the broken hearted Peter Mackay pouring out his heart to a kindly reporter who quietly asked Peter how he was feeling, whether he would ever get over the heart break and most importantly did he have anything to say to Belinda.
Peter sputtered out how he was caught by surprise by Belinda's change of not only party affiliation, but of chosen best buddy. It seems he didn't even know she had dined with the Prime Minister early on Saturday, before sitting down to dinner with him. Now while not wishing to kick a broken hearted guy while he's down, we will only suggest that he do his grieving in private and avoid the media for the next while. His sad looking eyes and drawn expression at love gone awry as he wandered alone on his fathers farm, should send waves of fear over the populace over how he may react to a national crisis as a Conservative cabinet minister.
The day got only stranger as it went on, later on we were treated to Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal caiming that Ujjal Dosanjh had offered up a cabinet post if only the Surrey MP would come on over to the Liberal side of the chamber. Dosanjh suggested that this was all wishful thinking on the behalf of Grewal and both sides lashed out at each other as liars. Yes folks, minority gov't certainly works well doesn't it! This crew is definitely taking care of business, unfortunately none of it is business of the state.
As if things couldn't get any more bizarre we learned late in the day that a backbench Liberal MP had been rushed to an Ottawa Hospital by ambulance suffering from chest pains. Only time will tell if he's capable of making it to the Commons tomorrow for the big vote.
No doubt countless Conservatives are waiting to see if an increasingly desperate PM will make a secret call to them, with their own little cabinet spot before the 5:30 vote. Perhaps PM the PM could just phone up Stephen Harper and offer him up the leadership of the Liberals and the Prime Ministership, with what's gone on in Ottawa the last few weeks, nothing seems beyond possibility.
Thank God that the budget vote has finally arrived, perhaps by Thursday night this sad little melodrama will have finally played itself out, but somehow we doubt it. Instead it'll be more of the high school theatrics, all that's left is for the kids to get their yearbooks signed and vote for this years Class Clown, Lord knows there's no shortage of candidates for that honor!
The last few weeks of drama from Parliament Hill are worthy of Dawson's Creek, The Breakfast Club or Fast times at Ridgemont High, West Wing material this is not.
Today we were treated to the after shocks of the Belinda crossing. Belinda was welcomed by her new best buddies in the Liberal Club, many of whom took to the stage to stand up for poor little Belinda who has been the victim of vitriolic exchanges from her old gang in the Conservatives.
Like kids who have changed friends in the middle of first term, they gathered around their new best friend to walk through the halls and show everyone how close they were. All that was missing was someone tripping Belinda as she walked through the cafeteria or shoving Belinda into a locker until the fourth period spare!
Later in the day Newsnet, Newsworld and All My Children featured the broken hearted Peter Mackay pouring out his heart to a kindly reporter who quietly asked Peter how he was feeling, whether he would ever get over the heart break and most importantly did he have anything to say to Belinda.
Peter sputtered out how he was caught by surprise by Belinda's change of not only party affiliation, but of chosen best buddy. It seems he didn't even know she had dined with the Prime Minister early on Saturday, before sitting down to dinner with him. Now while not wishing to kick a broken hearted guy while he's down, we will only suggest that he do his grieving in private and avoid the media for the next while. His sad looking eyes and drawn expression at love gone awry as he wandered alone on his fathers farm, should send waves of fear over the populace over how he may react to a national crisis as a Conservative cabinet minister.
The day got only stranger as it went on, later on we were treated to Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal caiming that Ujjal Dosanjh had offered up a cabinet post if only the Surrey MP would come on over to the Liberal side of the chamber. Dosanjh suggested that this was all wishful thinking on the behalf of Grewal and both sides lashed out at each other as liars. Yes folks, minority gov't certainly works well doesn't it! This crew is definitely taking care of business, unfortunately none of it is business of the state.
As if things couldn't get any more bizarre we learned late in the day that a backbench Liberal MP had been rushed to an Ottawa Hospital by ambulance suffering from chest pains. Only time will tell if he's capable of making it to the Commons tomorrow for the big vote.
No doubt countless Conservatives are waiting to see if an increasingly desperate PM will make a secret call to them, with their own little cabinet spot before the 5:30 vote. Perhaps PM the PM could just phone up Stephen Harper and offer him up the leadership of the Liberals and the Prime Ministership, with what's gone on in Ottawa the last few weeks, nothing seems beyond possibility.
Thank God that the budget vote has finally arrived, perhaps by Thursday night this sad little melodrama will have finally played itself out, but somehow we doubt it. Instead it'll be more of the high school theatrics, all that's left is for the kids to get their yearbooks signed and vote for this years Class Clown, Lord knows there's no shortage of candidates for that honor!
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Tales from the land of the Red Cedar
Fans of Canadian Literature will find something familiar about the above title for this blog entry, as the Red Cedar is an award for Children's writing in British Columbia. Now up until this weekend past I myself had not heard of the award, nor the authors that vie for it's reward. But with a ten year old boy who spent the last few months immersed in Red Cedar titles, I quickly have brought myself up to speed on a rather important event in the Can Lit scene.
Basically the Red Cedars are awarded to deserving authors at a gala held once a year, normally in May and normally in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. The books are nominated and school children across the province then read and vote on them. This year the awards headed north to Prince George, the first time that the northern city has had the opportunity to tackle the logistics of such a huge event.
Our involvement was that of the proud parents (and book carriers) as our lad and a very poised young lady from one grade above, were chosen by their school to be co-presenters for one of the nominated authors. They were chosen for their work on the Red Cedar project at school, they would read a number of the nominated books and then write up a book report on the epic studied. A fair amount of work but in then end well worth the effort as they prepared their presentation with the assistance of their supervising teacher.
The Red Cedars were a one day gala celebration, made up of a parade of authors, presentations, question and answer sessions with the authors and an autograph scramble as we carted our school library books from author to author for autographing.
With over 800 people in attendance at the College of New Caledonia for the opening and closing ceremonies, it by far was the largest audience most of the participating children would have faced thus far in their young lives. The presentations from each school were about two minutes and ranged from dramatic readings to recitations of facts from the selected books.
For our pair the two minute presentation featured a bit of theatre that tied in our community, school, the book in question "Hana's suitcase" and bit of history about what the book was about and it's impact on the students. Despite the huge crowd our kids remembered their lines and their marks like showbiz vets, in fact I suspect the parents were more nervous for them than they were themselves. Without missing a line or a beat they rattled off their two minute presentation without a flaw and basked in the applause from the crowd afterwards. No doubt a special moment in their lives that won't soon be forgotten. I know that we felt a sense of pride as they stood on stage accepting the accolades of a huge crowd.
The organizers put on a top notch show, covering all the bases and had things go off like clockwork with few noticeable snags a long the way. Making use of many volunteers from the Prince George High shcools and community at large, they did a remarkable job of showcasing the authors, books and participating schools. The success that they had over the weekend, should give the Red Cedar organizers the incentive to keep moving this gala around the province from year to year. Believe it or not people read books beyond the Langley district line.
For the authors it proved to be a great way to get feedback about their works, meet their audience and helped to put some cash in their pockets as well, the book selling was fast and furious at one point as kids scrambled to pick up their favorite work and rushed to find an author to autograph it.
Most importantly though it fosters a love of reading, which in this day of the multi channel television universe, Nintendo, Gameboys, computers and such is a hard sell at the best of times. By celebrating the authors and involving the children, the written word may still have a viable place in our society.
For the record, Hana's suitcase won its award for Non-fiction, and while the presentation by our young ones had nothing to do with the actual winning of the award, none the less our kids had a special attachment to an award winning book. To hear a book that they presented become the eventual winner gave them a sense of ownership of the title with Ms. Levine.
For one Saturday in May, the focus was on books, ideas and confidence. Not a bad way to spend a day and certainly worth a sixteen hour round trip by car. If you have young ones at home check out the nominees and get a head start on your own home literature program. You can even plan ahead for the Red Cedars in 2006, Inquire at your school and see if your province has a similar program and involve your kids, the sense of accomplishment will be something to watch!
Basically the Red Cedars are awarded to deserving authors at a gala held once a year, normally in May and normally in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. The books are nominated and school children across the province then read and vote on them. This year the awards headed north to Prince George, the first time that the northern city has had the opportunity to tackle the logistics of such a huge event.
Our involvement was that of the proud parents (and book carriers) as our lad and a very poised young lady from one grade above, were chosen by their school to be co-presenters for one of the nominated authors. They were chosen for their work on the Red Cedar project at school, they would read a number of the nominated books and then write up a book report on the epic studied. A fair amount of work but in then end well worth the effort as they prepared their presentation with the assistance of their supervising teacher.
The Red Cedars were a one day gala celebration, made up of a parade of authors, presentations, question and answer sessions with the authors and an autograph scramble as we carted our school library books from author to author for autographing.
With over 800 people in attendance at the College of New Caledonia for the opening and closing ceremonies, it by far was the largest audience most of the participating children would have faced thus far in their young lives. The presentations from each school were about two minutes and ranged from dramatic readings to recitations of facts from the selected books.
For our pair the two minute presentation featured a bit of theatre that tied in our community, school, the book in question "Hana's suitcase" and bit of history about what the book was about and it's impact on the students. Despite the huge crowd our kids remembered their lines and their marks like showbiz vets, in fact I suspect the parents were more nervous for them than they were themselves. Without missing a line or a beat they rattled off their two minute presentation without a flaw and basked in the applause from the crowd afterwards. No doubt a special moment in their lives that won't soon be forgotten. I know that we felt a sense of pride as they stood on stage accepting the accolades of a huge crowd.
The organizers put on a top notch show, covering all the bases and had things go off like clockwork with few noticeable snags a long the way. Making use of many volunteers from the Prince George High shcools and community at large, they did a remarkable job of showcasing the authors, books and participating schools. The success that they had over the weekend, should give the Red Cedar organizers the incentive to keep moving this gala around the province from year to year. Believe it or not people read books beyond the Langley district line.
For the authors it proved to be a great way to get feedback about their works, meet their audience and helped to put some cash in their pockets as well, the book selling was fast and furious at one point as kids scrambled to pick up their favorite work and rushed to find an author to autograph it.
Most importantly though it fosters a love of reading, which in this day of the multi channel television universe, Nintendo, Gameboys, computers and such is a hard sell at the best of times. By celebrating the authors and involving the children, the written word may still have a viable place in our society.
For the record, Hana's suitcase won its award for Non-fiction, and while the presentation by our young ones had nothing to do with the actual winning of the award, none the less our kids had a special attachment to an award winning book. To hear a book that they presented become the eventual winner gave them a sense of ownership of the title with Ms. Levine.
For one Saturday in May, the focus was on books, ideas and confidence. Not a bad way to spend a day and certainly worth a sixteen hour round trip by car. If you have young ones at home check out the nominees and get a head start on your own home literature program. You can even plan ahead for the Red Cedars in 2006, Inquire at your school and see if your province has a similar program and involve your kids, the sense of accomplishment will be something to watch!
A bombshell named Belinda
You know I'm still trying to decide if Belinda Stronach's departure from the Conservative Party is a bad or a good thing for Stephen Harper. In the short term it will most likely secure the government of Paul Martin, as Ms. Stronach's all important budget vote will go a long way in making sure the budget passes on Thursday.
In fact, with Stephen Harper's decision that his party will now support the budget, but vote separately against the orgy of spending at the behest of the NDP on that same budget, the Stronach move may have been blunted and maybe even countered. With that decision even Harper is admitting that the time may not be right to bring down the government.
However, the conversion of Belinda from fiscal conservative to free spending Liberal should be something to watch. Having given her the huge Human Resources portfolio with its potential for boondoggle largesse, Martin may find that his gambit to save his gov't today comes back to haunt him later on. The promotion from opposition member to cabinet minister gives off every odour of opportunism, despite the protestations otherwise. It will be just another item to add to the list of Liberal goodies to remain in power.
When the news first broke that Stronach had jumped to the Liberals I originally thought that it was a master stroke by Martin to go around Harper and secure his government for the foreseeable future. But with the benefit of time I now wonder if the electorate will look at that as a legitimate change of political orientation, or just another cynical manipulation of the system for the benefit of the governing party and the buffing of a young lady and her ego.
Various polls show that at the moment Canadians are not eager for an election, so perhaps the Stronach solution will prove to be a wise political machination worthy of other Liberal leaders such as McKenzie-King and Trudeau. Or perhaps it will just add more fuel to the fire of a party that seems determined to hang on to it's position at whatever cost need be paid off.
It was for now, a good day for Paul Martin and a bad day for Stephen Harper. But considering the timbre of the Parliament and of the nation these days it may only be a short lived good feeling. Canadians are traditionally suspicious of those that change their stripes, in this case with a great reward for doing so. Cynicsim is never far from the surface in Canada these days, after today it may not be thinly disguised anymore and instead may be in the open and festering.
Stephen Harper has quite a bit of work to do, not only on his own personal image but on that of his party. However, if an election comes down to ethics and credibility, the events of today may in the long run work in Harper's favour.
Perhaps all of her reasons for jumping ship were up front and legitimate, maybe she truly is fearful for her nation and unsure of the Conservatives under Harper. But perception is everything in politics and the perception today is that Ms. Stronach received a nice little reward, for delivering one single vote on a Thursday afternoon.
Canadians will one day get the chance to cast their votes once again, maybe not soon but eventually later. The accumulated baggage of the Liberals attempts to hold power at all costs may come back to haunt them, we trust that Ms. Stronach will enjoy her stay in the rarefied air of the cabinet room, even though it may be a short stay. Then perhaps I will have a more definitive idea as to whether today was a good or a bad day for Belinda, Paul, Stephen and the country.
In fact, with Stephen Harper's decision that his party will now support the budget, but vote separately against the orgy of spending at the behest of the NDP on that same budget, the Stronach move may have been blunted and maybe even countered. With that decision even Harper is admitting that the time may not be right to bring down the government.
However, the conversion of Belinda from fiscal conservative to free spending Liberal should be something to watch. Having given her the huge Human Resources portfolio with its potential for boondoggle largesse, Martin may find that his gambit to save his gov't today comes back to haunt him later on. The promotion from opposition member to cabinet minister gives off every odour of opportunism, despite the protestations otherwise. It will be just another item to add to the list of Liberal goodies to remain in power.
When the news first broke that Stronach had jumped to the Liberals I originally thought that it was a master stroke by Martin to go around Harper and secure his government for the foreseeable future. But with the benefit of time I now wonder if the electorate will look at that as a legitimate change of political orientation, or just another cynical manipulation of the system for the benefit of the governing party and the buffing of a young lady and her ego.
Various polls show that at the moment Canadians are not eager for an election, so perhaps the Stronach solution will prove to be a wise political machination worthy of other Liberal leaders such as McKenzie-King and Trudeau. Or perhaps it will just add more fuel to the fire of a party that seems determined to hang on to it's position at whatever cost need be paid off.
It was for now, a good day for Paul Martin and a bad day for Stephen Harper. But considering the timbre of the Parliament and of the nation these days it may only be a short lived good feeling. Canadians are traditionally suspicious of those that change their stripes, in this case with a great reward for doing so. Cynicsim is never far from the surface in Canada these days, after today it may not be thinly disguised anymore and instead may be in the open and festering.
Stephen Harper has quite a bit of work to do, not only on his own personal image but on that of his party. However, if an election comes down to ethics and credibility, the events of today may in the long run work in Harper's favour.
Perhaps all of her reasons for jumping ship were up front and legitimate, maybe she truly is fearful for her nation and unsure of the Conservatives under Harper. But perception is everything in politics and the perception today is that Ms. Stronach received a nice little reward, for delivering one single vote on a Thursday afternoon.
Canadians will one day get the chance to cast their votes once again, maybe not soon but eventually later. The accumulated baggage of the Liberals attempts to hold power at all costs may come back to haunt them, we trust that Ms. Stronach will enjoy her stay in the rarefied air of the cabinet room, even though it may be a short stay. Then perhaps I will have a more definitive idea as to whether today was a good or a bad day for Belinda, Paul, Stephen and the country.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Mandate received, but with an opposition with teeth!
The cake walk reign of Gordon Campbell came to an end on Tuesday night, while the BC Liberal leader received his second mandate as leader of the government, the days of having the BC Legislature mostly to himself are long gone.
With a surprising result, the NDP under Carole James collected 33 seats, 31 more than they had at dissolution. Many (including myself) had expected the NDP to pick up around 20 seats in this election as they rebuilt their party from the ashes of the Glen Clark/Ujjal Dosanjh years.
Instead, a backlash against the harder lines of the BC Libs sent 33 NDPers' off to fight the good fight in Victoria. Campaigning to be an opposition party seems to have paid off for the NDP as they will at least make the Liberals more accountable in their next four years. Gone now are the days of a lonely Joy McPhail and Jenny Kwan holding down the fort for socialism against the forces of unfettered capitalism. The results tonight make a wonderful retirement gift for McPhail who did a remarkable job of holding the NDP together in its darkest hours, in the last four years she was the lone voice for social issues in a legislature that refused to even offer her party official status, the results of the vote today are vindication for her and Kwan's hard work and the result of McPhails steady leadership. She can take her leave now, secure in the knowledge that she put the blocks in place for the NDP rebirth this night.
Still, a thirteen seat majority isn't exactly something to be sneezed at. Gordon Campbell will still be the premier, the majority is a workable one, which will allow him to still enact legislation, though perhaps with a more humane touch from here on in. The Liberals knew they were going to lose seats in this election and found that many of the rural areas had not bought into their programs sending the incumbents off to find other work.
Two of the "heartland" battleground cities basically told the tale of this election, both Kamloops and Prince George returned Liberals to office and those two ridings pretty well sent the Liberals back into power as they stayed the course with the Liberal agenda.
Northern ridings seemed to turn their backs on the Liberal candidates as the NDP picked up all the seats west of the Prince George ridings, starting their march at Bulkley Valley and trekking across the landscape taking everything up for grabs to the Pacific Ocean. This despite some serious money infusions to three of the ridings prior to the election. With a strong first nations presence and heavy union votes the NDP recaptured ridings that once were theirs in their halcyon days.
The Greens once again failed to win a seat, the 9% of the vote that the Greens picked up could have added a few more seats to the NDP total. Adriane Carr leader of the Green did not pick up her own seat and one wonders whether she will remain as leader of what seems to be a perpetual spoiler party now.
The win for the Liberals will be a warning shot for future policy ideas. The confrontational and mean spirited atmosphere of the early years of the Campbell Liberals will be long gone now. With an opposition party with numbers ready to take to the Legislature, the Campbell gov't will have to rethink it's policies regarding health and education. The vote today was a rebuke of much of the Campbell platform over the last four years and a return of the ideological split that has ruled this province for so many years now.
The Liberals won the majority of the seats, but did not win a majority of the popular vote as the NDP/Green vote combined would be close if not above 50% compared to the Liberals 44%. Interestingly enough, the STV proposal did not meet the required level of acceptance leaving it's fate unknown. But one wonders how the Legislature might have looked with an STV style of ballot on this election day.
While the numbers of positive STV replies were higher than expected, it was very much a proposition that never seemed to gain widespread support or acceptance. No one seemed to actually campaign on its behalf, both the major parties kept a low profile when asked about it and neither seemed to be in any hurry to adopt the thing.
For today though its first past the post and that mudder was named Campbell. But James was coming up fast on the inside track and it should be an interesting time in BC as a rejuvenated NDP prepares to do battle with the Liberals. A strong opposition may be just as good as actual governing for the NDP and its supporters, they have four years to keep the Liberals on their toes refine their policies and bury some of the lingering doubts about their ability to govern.
I will admit I was a bit surprised at he success of Ms. James and her party, I felt they had not run a particularly effective campaign against a gov't that had many soft spots. The results tonight show that the voters were far more in touch with her style and message than I thought they were. Or perhaps it was purely a vote against the Campbell Liberals tough love agenda from three years ago, the NDP were going to have more seats at the end of this night regardless, with about 12 more seats than I anticipated back in the NDP fold, the night truly belonged to James and should secure her hold on the leadership for at least the next four years.
For Gordon Campbell the loss of seats and vote percentage is a reminder that the gov't serves at the pleasure of the electorate. Stray too far from it's comfort zone and you shall receive a slap on the wrist, stray further over the next for years and Carole James may get a chance to add the title of Premier to her CV.
With a surprising result, the NDP under Carole James collected 33 seats, 31 more than they had at dissolution. Many (including myself) had expected the NDP to pick up around 20 seats in this election as they rebuilt their party from the ashes of the Glen Clark/Ujjal Dosanjh years.
Instead, a backlash against the harder lines of the BC Libs sent 33 NDPers' off to fight the good fight in Victoria. Campaigning to be an opposition party seems to have paid off for the NDP as they will at least make the Liberals more accountable in their next four years. Gone now are the days of a lonely Joy McPhail and Jenny Kwan holding down the fort for socialism against the forces of unfettered capitalism. The results tonight make a wonderful retirement gift for McPhail who did a remarkable job of holding the NDP together in its darkest hours, in the last four years she was the lone voice for social issues in a legislature that refused to even offer her party official status, the results of the vote today are vindication for her and Kwan's hard work and the result of McPhails steady leadership. She can take her leave now, secure in the knowledge that she put the blocks in place for the NDP rebirth this night.
Still, a thirteen seat majority isn't exactly something to be sneezed at. Gordon Campbell will still be the premier, the majority is a workable one, which will allow him to still enact legislation, though perhaps with a more humane touch from here on in. The Liberals knew they were going to lose seats in this election and found that many of the rural areas had not bought into their programs sending the incumbents off to find other work.
Two of the "heartland" battleground cities basically told the tale of this election, both Kamloops and Prince George returned Liberals to office and those two ridings pretty well sent the Liberals back into power as they stayed the course with the Liberal agenda.
Northern ridings seemed to turn their backs on the Liberal candidates as the NDP picked up all the seats west of the Prince George ridings, starting their march at Bulkley Valley and trekking across the landscape taking everything up for grabs to the Pacific Ocean. This despite some serious money infusions to three of the ridings prior to the election. With a strong first nations presence and heavy union votes the NDP recaptured ridings that once were theirs in their halcyon days.
The Greens once again failed to win a seat, the 9% of the vote that the Greens picked up could have added a few more seats to the NDP total. Adriane Carr leader of the Green did not pick up her own seat and one wonders whether she will remain as leader of what seems to be a perpetual spoiler party now.
The win for the Liberals will be a warning shot for future policy ideas. The confrontational and mean spirited atmosphere of the early years of the Campbell Liberals will be long gone now. With an opposition party with numbers ready to take to the Legislature, the Campbell gov't will have to rethink it's policies regarding health and education. The vote today was a rebuke of much of the Campbell platform over the last four years and a return of the ideological split that has ruled this province for so many years now.
The Liberals won the majority of the seats, but did not win a majority of the popular vote as the NDP/Green vote combined would be close if not above 50% compared to the Liberals 44%. Interestingly enough, the STV proposal did not meet the required level of acceptance leaving it's fate unknown. But one wonders how the Legislature might have looked with an STV style of ballot on this election day.
While the numbers of positive STV replies were higher than expected, it was very much a proposition that never seemed to gain widespread support or acceptance. No one seemed to actually campaign on its behalf, both the major parties kept a low profile when asked about it and neither seemed to be in any hurry to adopt the thing.
For today though its first past the post and that mudder was named Campbell. But James was coming up fast on the inside track and it should be an interesting time in BC as a rejuvenated NDP prepares to do battle with the Liberals. A strong opposition may be just as good as actual governing for the NDP and its supporters, they have four years to keep the Liberals on their toes refine their policies and bury some of the lingering doubts about their ability to govern.
I will admit I was a bit surprised at he success of Ms. James and her party, I felt they had not run a particularly effective campaign against a gov't that had many soft spots. The results tonight show that the voters were far more in touch with her style and message than I thought they were. Or perhaps it was purely a vote against the Campbell Liberals tough love agenda from three years ago, the NDP were going to have more seats at the end of this night regardless, with about 12 more seats than I anticipated back in the NDP fold, the night truly belonged to James and should secure her hold on the leadership for at least the next four years.
For Gordon Campbell the loss of seats and vote percentage is a reminder that the gov't serves at the pleasure of the electorate. Stray too far from it's comfort zone and you shall receive a slap on the wrist, stray further over the next for years and Carole James may get a chance to add the title of Premier to her CV.
Friday, May 13, 2005
It rained today!
Now folks familiar with Podunk may find that an unusual thing to state, as rain is one of the main events here in Greater Podunk. But the last three weeks have for the most part been unusually hot, sunny and quite enjoyable. Hence my lack of entries to ye old Podunk. Frankly, spending time toiling by a keyboard while the Sun beats down on normally soggy shores didn't seem like a fine bit of time management on my part. I would much rather work the lawn, watch the young folk play their sports and enjoy the heat. Anchored to a computer just wasn't in the plans I'm afraid, my apologies to the regulars who found entries few and far between!
Not only was the weather rather conducive to outdoor pursuits but the first two weeks of May have been rather busy ones around these parts, we've had soccer tourneys to attend, Cub camps to take part in, a Carnival rolled through town separating parents from their money supply and some landscaping jumped up and demanded to be done. All of which has kept me from regular postings of any kind.
Not that there hasn't been a lot to write about, as I heaved a shovel or cheered on a soccer player my mind was running through the weeks events, Steve Nash setting Canadian pride up a few notches with his MVP award in the NBA. A true team player such as he deserves the accolades he has received in the last few days and those with the sour grapes about his success can just go find a dark room and sit down.
Speaking of people who need a time out, we watched with horror as the children on Parliament Hill laid to rest forever the concept of mature parliamentary debate. Watching the four donkeys of the political apocalypse bicker over the pathetic happenings in Ottawa, makes one wonder if the nation is truly worth saving.
The most disgusting of the behavior happened over the weekend just past, our four political party leaders let their partisan posturing stand in the way of honoring our veterans. For some inexplicable reason, these four morons believed that by arriving a day late and more than a dollar short all would be forgiven by those that should never be taken for granted. Wrong and wrong again. By letting their political chicanery take precedence over what really should have mattered, the four leaders of Canada's political parties showed they really have no concept anymore about what is truly important.
Surely they could have reached an agreement by mid week last to suspend the silly games of Ottawa so as to attend the commemorative ceremonies in Holland. Instead we were treated the sight of the four dashing to Europe a day late to show their political flags at a thrown together ceremony, a full day after the heartfelt admiration from the Dutch citizenry was shown across Canada. One wonders why they just didn't stay home and take their lumps.
We have not be well served these last few weeks by our elected officials in Ottawa, judgment day may soon arrive for all of them, I wouldn't be counting on a return to office for many of these petulant nobodies.
There is still much to write about, the ongoing soap opera from Ottawa, an election in BC and even some hockey that actually means something. But alas, it will all have to wait.
I could vent on some more and perhaps I will, but not just yet. Another hectic weekend beckons with things that really matter, not the things that our politicians would like us to think matter. I'll take a break from them again for a bit, perhaps if I take a long enough break they won't be there when I come back!
Not only was the weather rather conducive to outdoor pursuits but the first two weeks of May have been rather busy ones around these parts, we've had soccer tourneys to attend, Cub camps to take part in, a Carnival rolled through town separating parents from their money supply and some landscaping jumped up and demanded to be done. All of which has kept me from regular postings of any kind.
Not that there hasn't been a lot to write about, as I heaved a shovel or cheered on a soccer player my mind was running through the weeks events, Steve Nash setting Canadian pride up a few notches with his MVP award in the NBA. A true team player such as he deserves the accolades he has received in the last few days and those with the sour grapes about his success can just go find a dark room and sit down.
Speaking of people who need a time out, we watched with horror as the children on Parliament Hill laid to rest forever the concept of mature parliamentary debate. Watching the four donkeys of the political apocalypse bicker over the pathetic happenings in Ottawa, makes one wonder if the nation is truly worth saving.
The most disgusting of the behavior happened over the weekend just past, our four political party leaders let their partisan posturing stand in the way of honoring our veterans. For some inexplicable reason, these four morons believed that by arriving a day late and more than a dollar short all would be forgiven by those that should never be taken for granted. Wrong and wrong again. By letting their political chicanery take precedence over what really should have mattered, the four leaders of Canada's political parties showed they really have no concept anymore about what is truly important.
Surely they could have reached an agreement by mid week last to suspend the silly games of Ottawa so as to attend the commemorative ceremonies in Holland. Instead we were treated the sight of the four dashing to Europe a day late to show their political flags at a thrown together ceremony, a full day after the heartfelt admiration from the Dutch citizenry was shown across Canada. One wonders why they just didn't stay home and take their lumps.
We have not be well served these last few weeks by our elected officials in Ottawa, judgment day may soon arrive for all of them, I wouldn't be counting on a return to office for many of these petulant nobodies.
There is still much to write about, the ongoing soap opera from Ottawa, an election in BC and even some hockey that actually means something. But alas, it will all have to wait.
I could vent on some more and perhaps I will, but not just yet. Another hectic weekend beckons with things that really matter, not the things that our politicians would like us to think matter. I'll take a break from them again for a bit, perhaps if I take a long enough break they won't be there when I come back!
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Dennis Miller's CNBC gabfest RIP!
The folks at CNBC have decided to stop scaring all those businessmen home from the Wall Street Wars, by having Dennis Miller take leave of the financial network's studios. Miller who never seems to take a prisoner has had his show cancelled by CNBC which has decided to concentrate on business matters in the time slot. Hmmm, whoda thunk it.
At any rate, with Miller's departure comes an end to an interesting experiment in business television, no more rants, no more varsity and no more monkeys, and with his departure one less bellicose voice on the right to rail away at the foibles of the world. My friend Sean at seanincognito wishes Miller a speedy retirement, whereas I'll actually miss the man with the thesaurus in his mind. In fact I looked back into my Podunks to see what I said about the debut of Dennis Miller Live back in January. And then offered up some suggestions as the show launched.
My cable provider long ago terminated CNBC from our tier of available channels, providing us instead with three different feeds from Detroit for the latest in motor city mayhem. So I've been out of the loop as far as Dennis goes for quite a while. I must admit though I actually did enjoy his show from time to time, though the monkey thing never really made any sense to me. I'm sure he'll follow the lead of Bill Maher and take his verbosity and political leanings to the likes of HBO or Showtime, so soon we'll probably be able to either cheer or jeer.
He may have annoyed many a liberal with his conversion to the dogma of the right, but one thing was certain he was never ever boring. Unlike the channel which has just sent him on his way!
At any rate, with Miller's departure comes an end to an interesting experiment in business television, no more rants, no more varsity and no more monkeys, and with his departure one less bellicose voice on the right to rail away at the foibles of the world. My friend Sean at seanincognito wishes Miller a speedy retirement, whereas I'll actually miss the man with the thesaurus in his mind. In fact I looked back into my Podunks to see what I said about the debut of Dennis Miller Live back in January. And then offered up some suggestions as the show launched.
My cable provider long ago terminated CNBC from our tier of available channels, providing us instead with three different feeds from Detroit for the latest in motor city mayhem. So I've been out of the loop as far as Dennis goes for quite a while. I must admit though I actually did enjoy his show from time to time, though the monkey thing never really made any sense to me. I'm sure he'll follow the lead of Bill Maher and take his verbosity and political leanings to the likes of HBO or Showtime, so soon we'll probably be able to either cheer or jeer.
He may have annoyed many a liberal with his conversion to the dogma of the right, but one thing was certain he was never ever boring. Unlike the channel which has just sent him on his way!
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Flutie Fantasy Finished!
The two weeks or so of courtship Doug Flutie by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats came to an end on Saturday. As the New England Patriots bellied up to the bar and offered the diminutive little field general a one year contract and a chance to end his career back in his beloved New England from whence it all began.
And with that bit of business taken care of, Darren Flutie could head for a Tim Horton's instead of a Gold's Gym. The fantasy camp of the Flutie Brothers will not take place in Southern Ontario this year, there will be no Flutie to Flutie finish in the CFL.
Darren had stated he would come out of retirement to join his brother Doug should he decide to return to the CFL for a grand finale tour. To that end he had started the necessary wind sprints and strength work to survive a training camp in less than one months time.
But the chance to play in front of the hometown fans of Massachusetts proved to be more of a lure than the opportunity to play pitch and catch with brother Darren in Hamilton. So Darren will head back to the press box, while Doug carries the clipboard in Foxboro.
And perhaps that's all for the best, while no doubt an exciting possibility for CFL fans to see Flutie back in the passing league, there's also the idea that you can't really go back in time to recapture some magic. The Flutie years in the CFL were filled with some pretty impressive moments, perhaps they would be tarnished just a little by a slower Darren and an older Doug.
With the Flutie boys taking their skills in other directions, Danny McManus can now concentrate on getting things in line for what will most likely be his farewell tour of the CFL. McManus was kind of lost in the excitement these last few weeks and that's not particularly fair. Danny Mac has been just as important to the CFL and surely deserved a bit more respect than the vision of the baggage on the side of the field.
He should slip easily into a mentor role and the Tiger-Cats would be foolish not to take advantage of all that accumulated knowledge from his many years in CFL combat. As he prepares for the Hamilton camp, perhaps now he can receive a bit of appreciation from the Black and Yellow faithful. Never complaining in the dark days of the franchise, he should be provided with some gratitude for keeping his team on an even keel when all around him were looking for the lifeboats.
While it may have been fun to have had the Fluties together for one final run, it's just as important to respect a guy that has stayed with the CFL through thick and thin. Now the problem for the Cats is how to spin all of this into a positive, besides this Flutie/McManus melodrama the Cats also let the popular Joe Montford go in the off season. Interestingly enough, Montford suggested as he was leaving that while it may be all and shiny on the surface, inside the Ti-Catss offices it's the same old atmosphere regarding player management. Before they hit the field, Ti-Cat management have some fence mending to deal with in the dressing room.
The above posting first appeared on my Twelve Men on the field blog, a site dedicated to the world of Canadian football, check it out for season updates and other items of interest.
And with that bit of business taken care of, Darren Flutie could head for a Tim Horton's instead of a Gold's Gym. The fantasy camp of the Flutie Brothers will not take place in Southern Ontario this year, there will be no Flutie to Flutie finish in the CFL.
Darren had stated he would come out of retirement to join his brother Doug should he decide to return to the CFL for a grand finale tour. To that end he had started the necessary wind sprints and strength work to survive a training camp in less than one months time.
But the chance to play in front of the hometown fans of Massachusetts proved to be more of a lure than the opportunity to play pitch and catch with brother Darren in Hamilton. So Darren will head back to the press box, while Doug carries the clipboard in Foxboro.
And perhaps that's all for the best, while no doubt an exciting possibility for CFL fans to see Flutie back in the passing league, there's also the idea that you can't really go back in time to recapture some magic. The Flutie years in the CFL were filled with some pretty impressive moments, perhaps they would be tarnished just a little by a slower Darren and an older Doug.
With the Flutie boys taking their skills in other directions, Danny McManus can now concentrate on getting things in line for what will most likely be his farewell tour of the CFL. McManus was kind of lost in the excitement these last few weeks and that's not particularly fair. Danny Mac has been just as important to the CFL and surely deserved a bit more respect than the vision of the baggage on the side of the field.
He should slip easily into a mentor role and the Tiger-Cats would be foolish not to take advantage of all that accumulated knowledge from his many years in CFL combat. As he prepares for the Hamilton camp, perhaps now he can receive a bit of appreciation from the Black and Yellow faithful. Never complaining in the dark days of the franchise, he should be provided with some gratitude for keeping his team on an even keel when all around him were looking for the lifeboats.
While it may have been fun to have had the Fluties together for one final run, it's just as important to respect a guy that has stayed with the CFL through thick and thin. Now the problem for the Cats is how to spin all of this into a positive, besides this Flutie/McManus melodrama the Cats also let the popular Joe Montford go in the off season. Interestingly enough, Montford suggested as he was leaving that while it may be all and shiny on the surface, inside the Ti-Catss offices it's the same old atmosphere regarding player management. Before they hit the field, Ti-Cat management have some fence mending to deal with in the dressing room.
The above posting first appeared on my Twelve Men on the field blog, a site dedicated to the world of Canadian football, check it out for season updates and other items of interest.
Monday, May 02, 2005
Essentially Podunkian April 25-May 1
Another week runs its course, here's some news from a different source.
25-Apr-05 Logjam in Hogtown
25-Apr-05 Bono urges one and all to call Paul
25-Apr-05 Day one for Benedict XVI
25-Apr-05 The Inukshuk to 2010
25-Apr-05 The sky is falling, the sky is falling
26-Apr-05 In deference to Smilin' Jack
26-Apr-05 Vlad misses the good ole days
26-Apr-05 Alfonso says that PM the PM has us on the road to ruin
26-Apr-05 Remember who your friends were
26-Apr-05 On the road with bigfoot
27-Apr-05 No items today took a break
28-Apr-05 Fundraising not just a problem for the Federal Liberals
28-Apr-05 More than just the NDP with their hands out
28-Apr-05 Gilles Duceppe's very good day
28-Apr-05 They found who they were looking for
28-Apr-05 Greenthumb leads to greenbacks
29-Apr-05 Harper's first chance is May 18
29-Apr-05 A witness for the prosecution?
29-Apr-05 Prime Time Bush gets pushed
29-Apr-05 Go East Young Man!
29-Apr-05 Calling Paulie, is anybody home!
30-Apr-05 No items out of town
1-May-05 No items out of town
25-Apr-05 Logjam in Hogtown
25-Apr-05 Bono urges one and all to call Paul
25-Apr-05 Day one for Benedict XVI
25-Apr-05 The Inukshuk to 2010
25-Apr-05 The sky is falling, the sky is falling
26-Apr-05 In deference to Smilin' Jack
26-Apr-05 Vlad misses the good ole days
26-Apr-05 Alfonso says that PM the PM has us on the road to ruin
26-Apr-05 Remember who your friends were
26-Apr-05 On the road with bigfoot
27-Apr-05 No items today took a break
28-Apr-05 Fundraising not just a problem for the Federal Liberals
28-Apr-05 More than just the NDP with their hands out
28-Apr-05 Gilles Duceppe's very good day
28-Apr-05 They found who they were looking for
28-Apr-05 Greenthumb leads to greenbacks
29-Apr-05 Harper's first chance is May 18
29-Apr-05 A witness for the prosecution?
29-Apr-05 Prime Time Bush gets pushed
29-Apr-05 Go East Young Man!
29-Apr-05 Calling Paulie, is anybody home!
30-Apr-05 No items out of town
1-May-05 No items out of town
Friday, April 29, 2005
Counting up the homeless in Vancouver
With the provincial election in full swing and the ruling Liberal party having an easy time of things thus far, there finally is a bit of ammunition for the NDP leader Carole James. A count of the Vancouver homeless numbers was released today and those that wanted to be found, but have nowhere to go number over 2100 for the last year.
The homeless figures come out one day after a Stats Canada survey that says BC is leading the country in economic growth good news no doubt, especially for the 2100 listed above who surely might wish to join in on the provincial renaissance.
But while they wait for their ship to come in, they can wonder how many more will join their numbers in the near future. The frightening statistic on the homeless census is that the numbers have doubled in only three years. Another disturbing trend in the homeless question is the number of working poor who live on the streets, going to work by day and finding someplace warm and dry to rest in the evening.
The homeless crisis in Vancouver is partially attributed to the extremely high cost of housing in the superheated real estate market of the Lower Mainland. And suburbia is no panacea for those looking for a place to rest their head and store their stuff, in the last three years suburbs such as Port Coquitlam and Langley have seen homelessness increase by 200 per cent. Obviously not everyone is poised to share in the Golden Decade ahead!
This seems like an issue that the NDP should seize upon and offer up some creative solutions to a terrible problem and while they make the usual noises about the situation, the status of their campaign thus far is one of benign neglect. A few stumbles out of the gate seem to have sapped their energy for the fight in many ridings.
With the weeks til election day dwindling down, the NDP had best start making some headway, otherwise the Campbell Liberals are looking to seize a rather large majority government once again. With an unlimited money truck on the trail, maybe even the homeless problem will be properly addressed by the Campbell Liberals. If it is indeed going to be a Golden Decade, it would be nice if those that wanted to hang around for it had a place of their own to hang their hats!
The homeless figures come out one day after a Stats Canada survey that says BC is leading the country in economic growth good news no doubt, especially for the 2100 listed above who surely might wish to join in on the provincial renaissance.
But while they wait for their ship to come in, they can wonder how many more will join their numbers in the near future. The frightening statistic on the homeless census is that the numbers have doubled in only three years. Another disturbing trend in the homeless question is the number of working poor who live on the streets, going to work by day and finding someplace warm and dry to rest in the evening.
The homeless crisis in Vancouver is partially attributed to the extremely high cost of housing in the superheated real estate market of the Lower Mainland. And suburbia is no panacea for those looking for a place to rest their head and store their stuff, in the last three years suburbs such as Port Coquitlam and Langley have seen homelessness increase by 200 per cent. Obviously not everyone is poised to share in the Golden Decade ahead!
This seems like an issue that the NDP should seize upon and offer up some creative solutions to a terrible problem and while they make the usual noises about the situation, the status of their campaign thus far is one of benign neglect. A few stumbles out of the gate seem to have sapped their energy for the fight in many ridings.
With the weeks til election day dwindling down, the NDP had best start making some headway, otherwise the Campbell Liberals are looking to seize a rather large majority government once again. With an unlimited money truck on the trail, maybe even the homeless problem will be properly addressed by the Campbell Liberals. If it is indeed going to be a Golden Decade, it would be nice if those that wanted to hang around for it had a place of their own to hang their hats!
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
We can't handle the truth?
With the Gomery commission uncovering skullduggery at every turn of a page, one of the original participants has weighed in with a warning that all this uncovering is bad for the country.
Alfonso Gagliano has issued a warning to the nation stating that Prime Minister Paul Martin is leading us to ruin. In Gagliano's opinion the Gomery commission's findings is only going to result in the separation of the province of Quebec from Canada.
Gagliano made his comments on Monday to an Ottawa radio station. The former public works minister and ambassador to the folks of Denmark (may they forgive us) says that the Prime Minister is leading the Liberal party and the country down the road to ruin. Claiming that the path to sovereignty for Quebec will be unavoidable, once the Liberals are removed from power and the Conservatives form a government. Somehow in Gagliano's world the Liberal party is the only thing that keeps this country together, a rather large does of arrogance from someone who has not exactly been a shining light of transparency.
There may be many who can find fault with the Prime Minister over the last year, but surely even the most bitter rival or critic would give him points for setting up an inquiry to explore just went on under the banner of national unity. And while of late the Prime Minister has looked rather desperate in his bid to hold onto power, he surely needs no lessons in ethics from the former Public Works Minister. His tenure as Prime Minister may be shortened in the near future, but he has at least taken the high road on this problem, unlike those who spent their time shoving brown envelopes across tables and covering up paper trails over the last few years.
If the people of Quebec were to decide to leave Canada based on a corruption scandal based in their province, then so be it. If the truth is so fragile that our democratic base is at stake, then perhaps we've been holding together a rather flimsy house of cards for far too long. If the people there are truly as disgusted as they are reported to be as to what has been done in their name, then they'll be able to sort through the bombast of the Bloc and the cynical machinations of the Parti Quebecois.
Corruption is not limited to the Federal Liberals (though at the moment in Quebec they seem to have it down to a science). From provincial governance down to the municipalities there are no doubt people in office across Canada, who are only interested in their own well being. Root them out and send them packing would be the advice offered up from this corner.
If the despicable money laundering of the sponsorship scandal is all that holds this country together; then perhaps we need to rethink the whole grand project known as Canada.
I don't quite share Mr. Gagliano's dire warnings, the Gomery findings surely will impact his former friends in the Liberal party of that there is no doubt and justifiably so. But are the people of Quebec so shortsighted as to their own best interests to walk away? I think a thorough investigation by the voters of Quebec will show that Canada is not the enemy, the enemy was within their own citizenry all along. There's a chance here to change the culture of Canadian politics, to toss away the dealings of the Chretien era as administered by Mr. Gagliano, there's no reason that the people of Quebec can't share in that change without leaving the table.
Perhaps now the days of blackmail and fear mongering have come to an end, if so somebody share the news with Mr. Gagliano. This country will either stand united for a more transparent and representative system of governance or it shall implode upon the greed of the few.
138 years of collective history says we'll survive those that don't necessarily have our best interests in their hearts. The mark of a truly great nation is its ability to overcome the incompetence of it's political leaders. It would seem we are ready for another test.
As for Mr. Gagliano the time has come to exit the stage for good, his credibility is certainly shot and his contributions to the public debate beyond worth. In other words it's time to shut up and take your medicine.
Alfonso Gagliano has issued a warning to the nation stating that Prime Minister Paul Martin is leading us to ruin. In Gagliano's opinion the Gomery commission's findings is only going to result in the separation of the province of Quebec from Canada.
Gagliano made his comments on Monday to an Ottawa radio station. The former public works minister and ambassador to the folks of Denmark (may they forgive us) says that the Prime Minister is leading the Liberal party and the country down the road to ruin. Claiming that the path to sovereignty for Quebec will be unavoidable, once the Liberals are removed from power and the Conservatives form a government. Somehow in Gagliano's world the Liberal party is the only thing that keeps this country together, a rather large does of arrogance from someone who has not exactly been a shining light of transparency.
There may be many who can find fault with the Prime Minister over the last year, but surely even the most bitter rival or critic would give him points for setting up an inquiry to explore just went on under the banner of national unity. And while of late the Prime Minister has looked rather desperate in his bid to hold onto power, he surely needs no lessons in ethics from the former Public Works Minister. His tenure as Prime Minister may be shortened in the near future, but he has at least taken the high road on this problem, unlike those who spent their time shoving brown envelopes across tables and covering up paper trails over the last few years.
If the people of Quebec were to decide to leave Canada based on a corruption scandal based in their province, then so be it. If the truth is so fragile that our democratic base is at stake, then perhaps we've been holding together a rather flimsy house of cards for far too long. If the people there are truly as disgusted as they are reported to be as to what has been done in their name, then they'll be able to sort through the bombast of the Bloc and the cynical machinations of the Parti Quebecois.
Corruption is not limited to the Federal Liberals (though at the moment in Quebec they seem to have it down to a science). From provincial governance down to the municipalities there are no doubt people in office across Canada, who are only interested in their own well being. Root them out and send them packing would be the advice offered up from this corner.
If the despicable money laundering of the sponsorship scandal is all that holds this country together; then perhaps we need to rethink the whole grand project known as Canada.
I don't quite share Mr. Gagliano's dire warnings, the Gomery findings surely will impact his former friends in the Liberal party of that there is no doubt and justifiably so. But are the people of Quebec so shortsighted as to their own best interests to walk away? I think a thorough investigation by the voters of Quebec will show that Canada is not the enemy, the enemy was within their own citizenry all along. There's a chance here to change the culture of Canadian politics, to toss away the dealings of the Chretien era as administered by Mr. Gagliano, there's no reason that the people of Quebec can't share in that change without leaving the table.
Perhaps now the days of blackmail and fear mongering have come to an end, if so somebody share the news with Mr. Gagliano. This country will either stand united for a more transparent and representative system of governance or it shall implode upon the greed of the few.
138 years of collective history says we'll survive those that don't necessarily have our best interests in their hearts. The mark of a truly great nation is its ability to overcome the incompetence of it's political leaders. It would seem we are ready for another test.
As for Mr. Gagliano the time has come to exit the stage for good, his credibility is certainly shot and his contributions to the public debate beyond worth. In other words it's time to shut up and take your medicine.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Robert Gordon Orr to the rescue!
Finally someone with the intestinal fortitude to tell it like it is. Over the weekend Bobby Orr put pen to paper (more likely keyboard to byte but no one has come up with a catchy little way of describing the puter revolution yet) and fired off a treatise to the Sunday Lawrence Eagle-Tribune. ( click on sports to view the letter, after April 25th click on their archive and select sports to view the letter)
In his letter he put both Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow in their place, suggesting that if they can't get a deal done then they should step aside (or as he put it "get out of the way") and let people of good faith sit down and hammer out an arrangement to get the game back on the ice. Orr observed that neither side seemed to interested in cobbling together a fair deal.
It was a passionate plea for some action before the gave slips further into the irrelevance that it has thus far. Orr rightly points out that this protracted grandstanding by both parties is putting the game of hockey in serious peril. This game is not ingrained in the American psyche as football is, baseball still has it's romantic past which occasionally rises above its steroid and greed fueled present and basketball has a core of fans that keep it going as the fairweather fans drift in and away from the game.
Any of those three sports would most likely survive a year long shutdown, in fact the NFL did and became stronger afterwards though it took a bit of union busting to accomplish that. Baseball has had numerous stoppages over the years and only now is beginning to sort out its attendance and television woes. Basketball had a bit of a dip with the Jordan retirement but seems to have re-invented itself as a team oriented game, where the five men on the court make the difference not necessarily one man. All are finding success in their markets and are financially sound. But hockey is not part of the culture in the States and if this mess continues much longer there may be a cost to be paid in Canada as well.
Spring is here and a hockeyless spring is introducing the hockey fan to other pursuits, the golf course beckons the cabins and campgrounds are almost open for the season. Sitting around the home or in a bar to watch hockey used to be the thing to do in Canada, with a year off from the obligation one wonders how many will return next year.
All of which makes Orr's points even more vital for the powers that be in hockey to consider. As a player agent many might find it a bit self serving on his part as of course he has money to be made with hockey back in play. But one thinks that his is more a plea from a hockey guy who fears for the state of the game that gave him a career and one which he always loved. Orr said he hesitated to speak out loud before as he had hopes that things would progress towards a solution, but with both sides scheduling meetings to just trash the other side that doesn't seem to be on the horizon, hence his contribution this weekend.
Good for him to now step up and say what needs to be said. Maybe now some other powers of hockey will add their voices to his chorus to spur this thing onto a solution. Solve this mess or "get out of the way". Once again Orr showed the leadership that made him famous and is sorely lacking these days. Those are wise words from number 4, lets hope they're ones not to be ignored!
The above item first appeared in my HockeyNation blog, for more items about Hockey check it out.
In his letter he put both Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow in their place, suggesting that if they can't get a deal done then they should step aside (or as he put it "get out of the way") and let people of good faith sit down and hammer out an arrangement to get the game back on the ice. Orr observed that neither side seemed to interested in cobbling together a fair deal.
It was a passionate plea for some action before the gave slips further into the irrelevance that it has thus far. Orr rightly points out that this protracted grandstanding by both parties is putting the game of hockey in serious peril. This game is not ingrained in the American psyche as football is, baseball still has it's romantic past which occasionally rises above its steroid and greed fueled present and basketball has a core of fans that keep it going as the fairweather fans drift in and away from the game.
Any of those three sports would most likely survive a year long shutdown, in fact the NFL did and became stronger afterwards though it took a bit of union busting to accomplish that. Baseball has had numerous stoppages over the years and only now is beginning to sort out its attendance and television woes. Basketball had a bit of a dip with the Jordan retirement but seems to have re-invented itself as a team oriented game, where the five men on the court make the difference not necessarily one man. All are finding success in their markets and are financially sound. But hockey is not part of the culture in the States and if this mess continues much longer there may be a cost to be paid in Canada as well.
Spring is here and a hockeyless spring is introducing the hockey fan to other pursuits, the golf course beckons the cabins and campgrounds are almost open for the season. Sitting around the home or in a bar to watch hockey used to be the thing to do in Canada, with a year off from the obligation one wonders how many will return next year.
All of which makes Orr's points even more vital for the powers that be in hockey to consider. As a player agent many might find it a bit self serving on his part as of course he has money to be made with hockey back in play. But one thinks that his is more a plea from a hockey guy who fears for the state of the game that gave him a career and one which he always loved. Orr said he hesitated to speak out loud before as he had hopes that things would progress towards a solution, but with both sides scheduling meetings to just trash the other side that doesn't seem to be on the horizon, hence his contribution this weekend.
Good for him to now step up and say what needs to be said. Maybe now some other powers of hockey will add their voices to his chorus to spur this thing onto a solution. Solve this mess or "get out of the way". Once again Orr showed the leadership that made him famous and is sorely lacking these days. Those are wise words from number 4, lets hope they're ones not to be ignored!
The above item first appeared in my HockeyNation blog, for more items about Hockey check it out.
Adventures in Anthem singing
Once again the sordid saga of anthem singing has raised its head. The latest installment of the botched song of national pride happening in Quebec City, when young Caroline Marcil forgot the words to the Star Spangled Banner, well before the rocket's red glare Caroline blanked out, stepped out and then nearly passed out. Heading for an exit she went to get a lyric sheet, returning to the ice only to fall backwards as the red carpet underneath went in a different direction than her.
By now completely flustered and deciding that this show doesn't necessarily have to go on, Marcil fled for the safety of the dressing room as the crowd expressed it's displeasure. For Caroline however the ending to a nightmare would be a feel good story after all, she was flown to New York at the expense of Good Morning America Sunday where she belted out the anthem to an appreciative crowd.
This brings back memories of past anthem debacles, the most glaring one from a Canadian point of view had to be when the CFL launched it's ill fated expansion to the USA. With a smattering of teams in far flung cities whole new audiences would be introduced to the joyful musicof Calixa Lavalle's Oh Canada with english lyrical content courtesy of Robert Stanley Weir. Although many might be forgiven if they thought they had heard that tune before, in a seasonal nature.
KC Parks a Las Vegas lounge singer was given the task of introducing Nevada to the glory of Canada. Struggling with his pitch and his tone, KC decided to free form it' giving Oh Canada the musical timbre of O Christmas Tree.
It was a cause celebre above the 49th parallel for a few weeks and eventually died down, in fact if memory serves correct KC was given a second chance as well, at a CFL game in Canada where he pretty well figure out the scales for the tune. So lets call it a draw in the great anthem adventure.
However, the USA is still ahead in upside down flag parades. Many Canadians still remember the Blue Jays-Braves World Series where the Maple leaf was led onto the field stem up, point down.
In the end all is forgiven, for truth be told there's enough bad anthem singing and pre game miscues to go around. So Caroline has nothing to worry about, her moments of horror turned into redemption. But perhaps we're learning why the big stars lip sync their moments of national passion, better to be rehearsed than cursed!
The above item first appeared in my HockeyNation blog for more items on Hockey (and occassional anthem singing) check it out!)
By now completely flustered and deciding that this show doesn't necessarily have to go on, Marcil fled for the safety of the dressing room as the crowd expressed it's displeasure. For Caroline however the ending to a nightmare would be a feel good story after all, she was flown to New York at the expense of Good Morning America Sunday where she belted out the anthem to an appreciative crowd.
This brings back memories of past anthem debacles, the most glaring one from a Canadian point of view had to be when the CFL launched it's ill fated expansion to the USA. With a smattering of teams in far flung cities whole new audiences would be introduced to the joyful musicof Calixa Lavalle's Oh Canada with english lyrical content courtesy of Robert Stanley Weir. Although many might be forgiven if they thought they had heard that tune before, in a seasonal nature.
KC Parks a Las Vegas lounge singer was given the task of introducing Nevada to the glory of Canada. Struggling with his pitch and his tone, KC decided to free form it' giving Oh Canada the musical timbre of O Christmas Tree.
It was a cause celebre above the 49th parallel for a few weeks and eventually died down, in fact if memory serves correct KC was given a second chance as well, at a CFL game in Canada where he pretty well figure out the scales for the tune. So lets call it a draw in the great anthem adventure.
However, the USA is still ahead in upside down flag parades. Many Canadians still remember the Blue Jays-Braves World Series where the Maple leaf was led onto the field stem up, point down.
In the end all is forgiven, for truth be told there's enough bad anthem singing and pre game miscues to go around. So Caroline has nothing to worry about, her moments of horror turned into redemption. But perhaps we're learning why the big stars lip sync their moments of national passion, better to be rehearsed than cursed!
The above item first appeared in my HockeyNation blog for more items on Hockey (and occassional anthem singing) check it out!)
Sunday, April 24, 2005
A week of essentials April 18-24, 2005
Another seven days has gone by here's what caught our interest over the last week.
18-Apr-05 As the conclave begins
18-Apr-05 Asian Cold War
18-Apr-05 Cold feet Camilla
18-Apr-05 The Boss ain't happy
18-Apr-05 There's no otiosity in these kids!
19-Apr-05 The smoke was black, so tomorrow they're back
19-Apr-05 The roar of the Engines and the Gushiness of the letters
19-Apr-05 No handmaiden Nation here
19-Apr-05 Smilin' Jack wants to have Paulie's back!
19-Apr-05 Perhaps a film festival may have been a better choice!
20-Apr-05 White puffs of smoke and clanging bells
20-Apr-05 Stalemate at the Hill
20-Apr-05 The suicide of the Liberal government
20-Apr-05 Burgers up, overweight drops to seventh on the death list
20-Apr-05 The Red Green award for Space Travel
21-Apr-05 Prime time Paul
21-Apr-05 Benedict a uniter not a divider!
21-Apr-05 No replacements for the NHL
21-Apr-05 Rough ride ahead for the stock markets?
21-Apr-05 Alfonso fears for his country
22-Apr-05 Give me just a little more time
22-Apr-05 The Earth Day blues
22-Apr-05 Rebound
22-Apr-05 Pope Benedict is just waiting for your to drop a line
22-Apr-05 Working overtime to make your popcorn pop
23-Apr-05 Smilin' Jack is in the spotlight dance
23-Apr-05 From bad to worse, Bono shares his verse
23-Apr-05 Not the best of role models for electoral success
23-Apr-05 She's Running back to Saskatoon
23-Apr-05 They seemed like good ideas at the time
24-Apr-05 No items today took a break
18-Apr-05 As the conclave begins
18-Apr-05 Asian Cold War
18-Apr-05 Cold feet Camilla
18-Apr-05 The Boss ain't happy
18-Apr-05 There's no otiosity in these kids!
19-Apr-05 The smoke was black, so tomorrow they're back
19-Apr-05 The roar of the Engines and the Gushiness of the letters
19-Apr-05 No handmaiden Nation here
19-Apr-05 Smilin' Jack wants to have Paulie's back!
19-Apr-05 Perhaps a film festival may have been a better choice!
20-Apr-05 White puffs of smoke and clanging bells
20-Apr-05 Stalemate at the Hill
20-Apr-05 The suicide of the Liberal government
20-Apr-05 Burgers up, overweight drops to seventh on the death list
20-Apr-05 The Red Green award for Space Travel
21-Apr-05 Prime time Paul
21-Apr-05 Benedict a uniter not a divider!
21-Apr-05 No replacements for the NHL
21-Apr-05 Rough ride ahead for the stock markets?
21-Apr-05 Alfonso fears for his country
22-Apr-05 Give me just a little more time
22-Apr-05 The Earth Day blues
22-Apr-05 Rebound
22-Apr-05 Pope Benedict is just waiting for your to drop a line
22-Apr-05 Working overtime to make your popcorn pop
23-Apr-05 Smilin' Jack is in the spotlight dance
23-Apr-05 From bad to worse, Bono shares his verse
23-Apr-05 Not the best of role models for electoral success
23-Apr-05 She's Running back to Saskatoon
23-Apr-05 They seemed like good ideas at the time
24-Apr-05 No items today took a break
Time to clear the Campbell Ipod
While the Campbell re-election campaign in BC seems to be staying on track, musically things are falling apart for the governing Liberal party of BC. The Liberals who apparently have not studied past musicalogical miscues, had taken to using Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" on the campaign trail, the catchy up beat sound of the Boss and the E streeters apparently just the sound the government had been looking for to showcase it's re-election platform. Only problem is nobody listened to the lyrics, actually Glory Days is about looking back at better times and examining things that didn't quite turn out so good, somehow you would think the Liberals would be all about the future.
From whistle stop encounter to money shovelling announcement, the Boss was there in full volume hailing the great times, while the Liberal boss would bask in the glow of another vote sought.
Alas all good times must come to an end and quicker than you can say cease and desist Glory Days will be no more on the happy Liberal trail.
Past political types that have tried to usurp the Springsteen catalogue have quickly learned that the Boss' legal types don't take kindly to having their music used to bolster a campaign. Especially when the man who champions the struggles of the working man and woman, the dispossessed and those that have been give a raw deal from the powers that be, finds out that those people are not the candidates target audience.
Ronald Reagan ran into the wrath of Springsteen in the 80's, when he tried to take Born in the USA from the charts to the campaign trail. Twenty years later Tony Blair found that just using U2 music doesn't quite amount to an endorsement by Bono, the Edge and the rest of the gang.
Campbell too now finds himself in the same spot. He wasn't well served by his political advisors with the selection of Springsteen, besides the already mentioned dislike of the politicians who take his songs for their own advancement, there is the matter of his new album. Devils and Dust, which in the spirit of the Ghost of Tom Joad and Nebraska sessions, explores themes of those left behind by society. Not exactly the target audiene of the current regime in BC.
So it's on to plan B for the BC Liberals, another click on the Ipod and up pops REM, Shiny Happy People the song for all occasions, for now. One wonders how long Michael Stipe will take to call in the legal team, Stipe who actually has spent a fair amount of time in Vancouver recording his music, also is of a rather socially conscious bent. He like Springsteen, may not appreciate having the Liberal message put to an REM soundtrack.
One wonders what's next on that Campbell Ipod,for surely it won't be long before someone calls to say "push delete". The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.
From whistle stop encounter to money shovelling announcement, the Boss was there in full volume hailing the great times, while the Liberal boss would bask in the glow of another vote sought.
Alas all good times must come to an end and quicker than you can say cease and desist Glory Days will be no more on the happy Liberal trail.
Past political types that have tried to usurp the Springsteen catalogue have quickly learned that the Boss' legal types don't take kindly to having their music used to bolster a campaign. Especially when the man who champions the struggles of the working man and woman, the dispossessed and those that have been give a raw deal from the powers that be, finds out that those people are not the candidates target audience.
Ronald Reagan ran into the wrath of Springsteen in the 80's, when he tried to take Born in the USA from the charts to the campaign trail. Twenty years later Tony Blair found that just using U2 music doesn't quite amount to an endorsement by Bono, the Edge and the rest of the gang.
Campbell too now finds himself in the same spot. He wasn't well served by his political advisors with the selection of Springsteen, besides the already mentioned dislike of the politicians who take his songs for their own advancement, there is the matter of his new album. Devils and Dust, which in the spirit of the Ghost of Tom Joad and Nebraska sessions, explores themes of those left behind by society. Not exactly the target audiene of the current regime in BC.
So it's on to plan B for the BC Liberals, another click on the Ipod and up pops REM, Shiny Happy People the song for all occasions, for now. One wonders how long Michael Stipe will take to call in the legal team, Stipe who actually has spent a fair amount of time in Vancouver recording his music, also is of a rather socially conscious bent. He like Springsteen, may not appreciate having the Liberal message put to an REM soundtrack.
One wonders what's next on that Campbell Ipod,for surely it won't be long before someone calls to say "push delete". The answer my friend is blowing in the wind, the answer is blowing in the wind.
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Vote me out now, or vote me out later?
6 minutes and 53 seconds, the length of PM the PM's plaintive plea for more time to straighten out his crowded closet of troubles. Paul Martin took to the airwaves on Thursday night to beg Canadians to let Gomery finish the job. Vowing that upon receipt of the Judges final report (expected sometime in December apparently) he would immediately call an election for the peoples verdict his stewardship of the Sponsorship scandal.
It was a rather strange sight, the leader of a G-8 country admitting that malfeasance had happened while he was around, but at the same time claiming a mild self propelled pat on the back for canceling the program, creating the inquiry, cashiering an ambassador (and rather successful fund raiser it seems)and issuing many a mea culpa to boot.
The time flew by as the Prime Minister admitted that there were some serious problems with his party's fundraising apparatus, regretting that those on watch had not been more vigilant to the horrors happening in the Liberal name.
The basic tone of the 6:53 of television time was that Canadians deserve to be fully informed on the results of the Gomery inquiry before they make their minds up. A nice bit of wishful thinking on behalf of PM the PM and his handlers but judging by the various opinion polls making the rounds the Canadian public seems to have already heard enough and are voting with their feet, in a mad stampede from anything Liberal.
With his time about up (at least on the broadcast, but feel free to accept the double entendre) the Prime Minister looked forlornly into the camera asking for just a bit more time. Hoping against hope that Canadians will understand his current position, a situation not particularly reflected in the polls of late.
Of course his mea culpas and pleas for understanding fell on deaf ears when it came to the opposition leaders. The lead off hitter was Stephen Harper who basically dismissed the speech as a sad moment that showed that the PM can barely govern the country anymore. Harper said that his party would decide on the fate of this government after consulting with the Canadian people over the next little while. Coming soon to a town near you, the Conservative listening party.
Next up to whack the pinnate was Gilles Duceppe and almost instantly Canadians must have realized that this was a rather interesting time for the nation, as Mr. Duceppe actually dedicated part of his speech time to English, something rather rare for the separatist leader. In fact he made a fairly good argument for himself en anglais making some solid points about the crisis not being a national one but a Liberal party problem. Take out that leaving Canada and taking as much money as possible with us plank and he might have won a few seats in Ontario such was the strength of his speech.
The final combatant of the night was Smilin' Jack Layton, who led off with some bizarre recitation of what Canadians really want. Which is nice to have at your fingertips but hardly appropriate to the topic at hand, that of the Liberals governing as their moral compass does donuts around the credibility line. Layton also offered up an out for the beleaguered Libs, just drop the corporate tax cuts and bring in your budget and we'll support you said Jack. Which is an interesting position for the normally highly outraged NDPers, basically it translates into sure we'll support a bunch of highly suspicious types as long as we get what we want too! Going to be hard to play the ethics card after that little exercise, which would be for naught anyways as even with every single Liberal and NDPer onside the combined numbers would still not overtake the Conservative/Bloc lets go to the polls vote.
The scrums would follow and then the talking heads, many who feel that the Liberals may have made things worse for themselves by now creating a national crisis rather than and internal one.
So now Canadians are left with an option or two to ponder, an immediate election where they can weigh in with their judgment on the mess or an election 30 days after the whole sordid mess is finally put to bed.
Martin is to be commended for having tackled a situation that wasn't necessarily of his making, for taking some heat for doing the right thing. Unfortunately the smell of rot is just too strong, it's hard to believe that the Liberals themselves believe that they have a moral right to govern at the moment. Martin might have better luck dealing with his problems in making Parliament work by having the Governor General ask Steven Harper to form a government, one with a rather short list of quality cabinet types.
Putting Harper in the hot seat immediately might work out in the Liberals favor, for one thing with summer almost here, Parliament would soon rise anyways, it would take Harper about six or seven months to get his feet wet and a government up and running full tilt. By then the Gomery inquiry will be out, Martin can then address the problems of his own party first, clean up the mess and then bring down the Tory minority, reminding Canadians that he and he alone took on the problems of his own party and rectified a rather sad period of Liberal history. It's not the normal way of doing things, but these don't seem to be particularity normal times in Canadian Politics
You do get the feeling that Martin truly is repentant for the sins of his fellow travelers in the Liberal party, but there comes a time when possibly it may be better to punish the whole at the expense of the one. Paul Martin came to office with big plans, high expectations and a desire to make Canada important again. Unfortunately for him, none of that will happen while the clouds of suspicion continue to gather over the Hill.
The Liberal party of late is all about survival, so one thinks that they will cling to power until the very last finger is pulled from the door to the gov't side of the House of Commons. All that is left is for Canadians to wait to see whether they will either help rip the fingers off that door clearing a path for Stephen Harper, or hold the door open for a return of the reformed and chastened Liberals who will thus live a life of honesty for forever and a day.
It was a rather strange sight, the leader of a G-8 country admitting that malfeasance had happened while he was around, but at the same time claiming a mild self propelled pat on the back for canceling the program, creating the inquiry, cashiering an ambassador (and rather successful fund raiser it seems)and issuing many a mea culpa to boot.
The time flew by as the Prime Minister admitted that there were some serious problems with his party's fundraising apparatus, regretting that those on watch had not been more vigilant to the horrors happening in the Liberal name.
The basic tone of the 6:53 of television time was that Canadians deserve to be fully informed on the results of the Gomery inquiry before they make their minds up. A nice bit of wishful thinking on behalf of PM the PM and his handlers but judging by the various opinion polls making the rounds the Canadian public seems to have already heard enough and are voting with their feet, in a mad stampede from anything Liberal.
With his time about up (at least on the broadcast, but feel free to accept the double entendre) the Prime Minister looked forlornly into the camera asking for just a bit more time. Hoping against hope that Canadians will understand his current position, a situation not particularly reflected in the polls of late.
Of course his mea culpas and pleas for understanding fell on deaf ears when it came to the opposition leaders. The lead off hitter was Stephen Harper who basically dismissed the speech as a sad moment that showed that the PM can barely govern the country anymore. Harper said that his party would decide on the fate of this government after consulting with the Canadian people over the next little while. Coming soon to a town near you, the Conservative listening party.
Next up to whack the pinnate was Gilles Duceppe and almost instantly Canadians must have realized that this was a rather interesting time for the nation, as Mr. Duceppe actually dedicated part of his speech time to English, something rather rare for the separatist leader. In fact he made a fairly good argument for himself en anglais making some solid points about the crisis not being a national one but a Liberal party problem. Take out that leaving Canada and taking as much money as possible with us plank and he might have won a few seats in Ontario such was the strength of his speech.
The final combatant of the night was Smilin' Jack Layton, who led off with some bizarre recitation of what Canadians really want. Which is nice to have at your fingertips but hardly appropriate to the topic at hand, that of the Liberals governing as their moral compass does donuts around the credibility line. Layton also offered up an out for the beleaguered Libs, just drop the corporate tax cuts and bring in your budget and we'll support you said Jack. Which is an interesting position for the normally highly outraged NDPers, basically it translates into sure we'll support a bunch of highly suspicious types as long as we get what we want too! Going to be hard to play the ethics card after that little exercise, which would be for naught anyways as even with every single Liberal and NDPer onside the combined numbers would still not overtake the Conservative/Bloc lets go to the polls vote.
The scrums would follow and then the talking heads, many who feel that the Liberals may have made things worse for themselves by now creating a national crisis rather than and internal one.
So now Canadians are left with an option or two to ponder, an immediate election where they can weigh in with their judgment on the mess or an election 30 days after the whole sordid mess is finally put to bed.
Martin is to be commended for having tackled a situation that wasn't necessarily of his making, for taking some heat for doing the right thing. Unfortunately the smell of rot is just too strong, it's hard to believe that the Liberals themselves believe that they have a moral right to govern at the moment. Martin might have better luck dealing with his problems in making Parliament work by having the Governor General ask Steven Harper to form a government, one with a rather short list of quality cabinet types.
Putting Harper in the hot seat immediately might work out in the Liberals favor, for one thing with summer almost here, Parliament would soon rise anyways, it would take Harper about six or seven months to get his feet wet and a government up and running full tilt. By then the Gomery inquiry will be out, Martin can then address the problems of his own party first, clean up the mess and then bring down the Tory minority, reminding Canadians that he and he alone took on the problems of his own party and rectified a rather sad period of Liberal history. It's not the normal way of doing things, but these don't seem to be particularity normal times in Canadian Politics
You do get the feeling that Martin truly is repentant for the sins of his fellow travelers in the Liberal party, but there comes a time when possibly it may be better to punish the whole at the expense of the one. Paul Martin came to office with big plans, high expectations and a desire to make Canada important again. Unfortunately for him, none of that will happen while the clouds of suspicion continue to gather over the Hill.
The Liberal party of late is all about survival, so one thinks that they will cling to power until the very last finger is pulled from the door to the gov't side of the House of Commons. All that is left is for Canadians to wait to see whether they will either help rip the fingers off that door clearing a path for Stephen Harper, or hold the door open for a return of the reformed and chastened Liberals who will thus live a life of honesty for forever and a day.
Desperate Housemates
Prime Time Paulie takes to the airwaves tonight, to try and buy some time for his increasing wobbly government. The continuing saga of the Gomery inquiry which is fast approaching some common ground with the Soprano's has PM the PM wondering how to stem the flood of would be voters away from his Liberal agenda.
The Liberals weary of the never ending attack from the opposition as each new revelation is broadcast on Newsworld and Newsnet must be wondering why that nice Justice didn't keep his publication ban in effect until he puts pen to paper with a final report. The damage of the daily explanation of what appears to be a rather well designed little numbers racket, is causing no amount of distress in Liberal ridings from coast to coast to coast.
In fact Alfonso Gagliano, who more or less got the whole ball rolling down the hill a number of months ago has been quoted as fearing for his country with all the dirt that has been shoveled via Gomery. Too bad nobody in the Liberal party didn't think of that while they were shuffling brown envelopes around finer restaurants in the Greater Montreal area.
Word on the Hill is that finding a sword carrier in Quebec for the Liberal brand is getting harder and harder, as many would be troughers appear nervous to be lumped in with the practices of the past regimes. You know you're in terrible trouble, when you can't find candidates in what once was a guaranteed invitation to a life of leisure. One might also say the end is nigh when politicians or would be politicians develop a sense of right and wrong!
The six minute fireside chat tonight has been portrayed as a Prime Minister reaching out to Canadians to be patient, as the Gomery festival wraps up it's deliberations. However, he runs a terrible risk of appearing to be simply trying to paint his party in the best light under rather dark circumstances. Requests for television time are generally reserved for times of National crisis not party meltdown, there may be a backlash for the Liberals for the appearance of crisis. Not to be outflanked Studios Steven Harper has requested his own shot at prime time, Gilles Duceppe too has asked for a block of time on behalf of the Bloq and no doubt Smilin' Jack Layton will want to be able to wave his hands in prime time as well.
If each were to receive equal time the Canadian networks could turn this into a half hour series, our only question then would be is it a drama, reality show or a sit com. Survivor? Canadian Distained or Fantasy Island; we'll have a better idea after 7 pm eastern 4 o'clock on the far west coast!
The Liberals weary of the never ending attack from the opposition as each new revelation is broadcast on Newsworld and Newsnet must be wondering why that nice Justice didn't keep his publication ban in effect until he puts pen to paper with a final report. The damage of the daily explanation of what appears to be a rather well designed little numbers racket, is causing no amount of distress in Liberal ridings from coast to coast to coast.
In fact Alfonso Gagliano, who more or less got the whole ball rolling down the hill a number of months ago has been quoted as fearing for his country with all the dirt that has been shoveled via Gomery. Too bad nobody in the Liberal party didn't think of that while they were shuffling brown envelopes around finer restaurants in the Greater Montreal area.
Word on the Hill is that finding a sword carrier in Quebec for the Liberal brand is getting harder and harder, as many would be troughers appear nervous to be lumped in with the practices of the past regimes. You know you're in terrible trouble, when you can't find candidates in what once was a guaranteed invitation to a life of leisure. One might also say the end is nigh when politicians or would be politicians develop a sense of right and wrong!
The six minute fireside chat tonight has been portrayed as a Prime Minister reaching out to Canadians to be patient, as the Gomery festival wraps up it's deliberations. However, he runs a terrible risk of appearing to be simply trying to paint his party in the best light under rather dark circumstances. Requests for television time are generally reserved for times of National crisis not party meltdown, there may be a backlash for the Liberals for the appearance of crisis. Not to be outflanked Studios Steven Harper has requested his own shot at prime time, Gilles Duceppe too has asked for a block of time on behalf of the Bloq and no doubt Smilin' Jack Layton will want to be able to wave his hands in prime time as well.
If each were to receive equal time the Canadian networks could turn this into a half hour series, our only question then would be is it a drama, reality show or a sit com. Survivor? Canadian Distained or Fantasy Island; we'll have a better idea after 7 pm eastern 4 o'clock on the far west coast!
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Daydreaming with Delacourt
It's officially the silly season in Ottawa, with Parliament in a virtual state of chaos neither governed nor closed we find some wild suggestions making the rounds. The rumours of a possible election call of June 27th keeps making the rounds of Parliament Hill, as the Martin government tries to outflank its allied opposition forces in a procedural game of hide and seek as outlined by Jane Taber of the Globe and Mail.
All of the Machiavellian workings of late have Susan Delacourt the Ottawa Bureau Chief for the Toronto Star putting forward some interesting options for the folks (fools?) on the Hill. In this article from the April 15th Star, she works out a number of scenarios for governing this rather splintered group of malcontent MP's.
Among the notable options; Paul Martin plays turtle (perhaps more the fabled tortoise than Ninja Turtle one suspects), PM the PM tosses the keys to the PMO bathroom to Stephen Harper and the heads for the Gatineau Hills and one final apocalyptic option, that of the possibility of a Prime Minister Duceppe Prime Ministership (just watch that loonie drop then eh!).
All quite plausible if all the stars were to crash into place at the same time. All symbolic as to just how crazy life in Ottawa must seem these days.
All of the Machiavellian workings of late have Susan Delacourt the Ottawa Bureau Chief for the Toronto Star putting forward some interesting options for the folks (fools?) on the Hill. In this article from the April 15th Star, she works out a number of scenarios for governing this rather splintered group of malcontent MP's.
Among the notable options; Paul Martin plays turtle (perhaps more the fabled tortoise than Ninja Turtle one suspects), PM the PM tosses the keys to the PMO bathroom to Stephen Harper and the heads for the Gatineau Hills and one final apocalyptic option, that of the possibility of a Prime Minister Duceppe Prime Ministership (just watch that loonie drop then eh!).
All quite plausible if all the stars were to crash into place at the same time. All symbolic as to just how crazy life in Ottawa must seem these days.
Meet the New Pope, Same as the Old Pope?
With the puffs of white smoke (for the folks at CNN it was white) and eventual clanging of the bells of St. Peters the worlds 1.1 billion Catholics had a new leader on Tuesday.
Pope Benedict XVI the former Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany takes over control of the Roman Catholic church and many are wondering where the Church will go over the next few years. Ratzinger who was the right hand man of Pope John Paul II is not expected to deviate very much from the path laid out by his predecessor.
As a matter of fact as Cardinal, it fell to Ratzinger to enforce Vatican discipline on the many controversial issues of the day. Which in a way makes his selection an interesting study in Catholic church internal politics. Considering how his past position would have had him putting fellow Cardinals into line over the various issues, one would thought he would have built up a rather sizeable "enemies" list over the years, Cardinals who might not be willing to cast their vote for such a rigid doctrinaire leader.
But after four votes and less than two days the conclave came to an end and Benedict XVI stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peters to greet his worldwide flock.
It's expected that his papacy will be very much the same as that of John Paul II"s, strict adherence to absolutes, little room for liberalism and a certain insistence on not deviating from the current path. His is going to be a papacy of traditional beliefs.
Those in the Catholic faith looking for a sign that the Church was going to change it's direction on the many controversies of dogma are going to be a very disappointed lot. Married priests, birth Control, abortion, homosexuality and women in the priesthood will not move very far along the talking points of this new Pope. Considered by many to be a very Conservative religious leader, the proponents of a liberal direction for Catholicism may find their audience not inclined to listen at the highest levels.
It will be a fascinating study of faith to see how the larger flock react to a Pope steeped in unswerving doctrine. Of course the new Pope has yet to make much in the way of public pronouncements, so it will be a bit of time before we get a handle on what his true intentions may be. If his reputation as Cardinal NO will be replaced by a more inclusive leadership looking to include many different thoughts on the faith.
Many say that the Catholic church missed an opportunity to reach out to the new world this week, by not selecting an African or South American pontiff, however it may have been too radical a step for an organization that seems to move in glacial speeds on matters of hierarchy.
At 78 years of age this pope is considered to be a transitional pope, leading the Church from one era to the next one. But it's not expected his role will be that of a care taker, he will most likely put his stamp on his time as leader of the Roman Catholic church.
The papacy of Benedict XVI will be watched with much interest to see where we are at the time of the next transition, especially as it evolves (or doesn't) from where we begin the journey today.
Pope Benedict XVI the former Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany takes over control of the Roman Catholic church and many are wondering where the Church will go over the next few years. Ratzinger who was the right hand man of Pope John Paul II is not expected to deviate very much from the path laid out by his predecessor.
As a matter of fact as Cardinal, it fell to Ratzinger to enforce Vatican discipline on the many controversial issues of the day. Which in a way makes his selection an interesting study in Catholic church internal politics. Considering how his past position would have had him putting fellow Cardinals into line over the various issues, one would thought he would have built up a rather sizeable "enemies" list over the years, Cardinals who might not be willing to cast their vote for such a rigid doctrinaire leader.
But after four votes and less than two days the conclave came to an end and Benedict XVI stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peters to greet his worldwide flock.
It's expected that his papacy will be very much the same as that of John Paul II"s, strict adherence to absolutes, little room for liberalism and a certain insistence on not deviating from the current path. His is going to be a papacy of traditional beliefs.
Those in the Catholic faith looking for a sign that the Church was going to change it's direction on the many controversies of dogma are going to be a very disappointed lot. Married priests, birth Control, abortion, homosexuality and women in the priesthood will not move very far along the talking points of this new Pope. Considered by many to be a very Conservative religious leader, the proponents of a liberal direction for Catholicism may find their audience not inclined to listen at the highest levels.
It will be a fascinating study of faith to see how the larger flock react to a Pope steeped in unswerving doctrine. Of course the new Pope has yet to make much in the way of public pronouncements, so it will be a bit of time before we get a handle on what his true intentions may be. If his reputation as Cardinal NO will be replaced by a more inclusive leadership looking to include many different thoughts on the faith.
Many say that the Catholic church missed an opportunity to reach out to the new world this week, by not selecting an African or South American pontiff, however it may have been too radical a step for an organization that seems to move in glacial speeds on matters of hierarchy.
At 78 years of age this pope is considered to be a transitional pope, leading the Church from one era to the next one. But it's not expected his role will be that of a care taker, he will most likely put his stamp on his time as leader of the Roman Catholic church.
The papacy of Benedict XVI will be watched with much interest to see where we are at the time of the next transition, especially as it evolves (or doesn't) from where we begin the journey today.
Monday, April 18, 2005
Essentially Podunkian April 11-17, 2005
Another week of the essentials.
11-Apr-05 No links today took a break
12-Apr-05 No links today took a break
13-Apr-05 No links today took a break
14-Apr-05 He couldn't live with himself, and now lives alone
14-Apr-05 The coming face and sounds of politics
14-Apr-05 Lowest tactics always?
14-Apr-05 Out damn Black, out!
14-Apr-05 Keeping a safe blog and full employment
15-Apr-05 He can't remember, He can't recall, He has no memory of anything at all
15-Apr-05 "The Enforcer" takes the Papal lead
15-Apr-05 The Big 50 for the folks that gave us the Big Mac
15-Apr-05 Punters make Canadian pope a longshot
15-Apr-05 The Little blue pill passes the Passover test
16-Apr-05 No links today took a break
17-Apr-05 An election if necessary, but not necessarilly an election!
17-Apr-05 A Superport for the Pacific
17-Apr-05 Not everyone thinks all the Gold is in China
17-Apr-05 Two of our viruses are missing
17-Apr-05 Let the lobbying begin!
11-Apr-05 No links today took a break
12-Apr-05 No links today took a break
13-Apr-05 No links today took a break
14-Apr-05 He couldn't live with himself, and now lives alone
14-Apr-05 The coming face and sounds of politics
14-Apr-05 Lowest tactics always?
14-Apr-05 Out damn Black, out!
14-Apr-05 Keeping a safe blog and full employment
15-Apr-05 He can't remember, He can't recall, He has no memory of anything at all
15-Apr-05 "The Enforcer" takes the Papal lead
15-Apr-05 The Big 50 for the folks that gave us the Big Mac
15-Apr-05 Punters make Canadian pope a longshot
15-Apr-05 The Little blue pill passes the Passover test
16-Apr-05 No links today took a break
17-Apr-05 An election if necessary, but not necessarilly an election!
17-Apr-05 A Superport for the Pacific
17-Apr-05 Not everyone thinks all the Gold is in China
17-Apr-05 Two of our viruses are missing
17-Apr-05 Let the lobbying begin!
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