Environment Won't Always Be "Hot" Topic

Mulder

Last night while watching Gallery Talk on our local CTV affiliate here in Ottawa (CJOH), Norm Fetterley was on with Mike Duffy and Robert Fife for his weekly Friday night 5 minute chat.

They were briefly discussing the recent polls that indicate Canadians are most concerned about the environment this election. Being a strong skeptic that this issue is forefront because of the left leaning media, my ears perked up when Norm pointed out that in his many years he has noticed that the environment only becomes an important issue when the economy is strong. In times where the economy wasn’t so strong, the primary issue usually turned to things like healthcare.

Mike Duffy said that he tended to agree with that statement indicating that this may just be an aberration.

This made me smile because I immediately thought of all the left leaning peaceniks like David Suzuki who come crawling out of the woodwork when the economy is good. Their hands held out (so to speak) to get public speaking engagements and to create a swarming effect and buzz around the government. And swarming is exactly what it is.

Earlier today I was reading this article (H/T Jack’s Newswatch) which outlines how the media circus around the Picton trial is easing up as the throngs of journalists from overseas head on home. The swarm around a trial where almost 50 people were allegedly murdered by a single man has broken. How long before the press moves on when it comes to the environment?

My guess is that it may last through the next election, but it won’t last forever. The ice will eventually come back.

Stephane Dion Just Can't Get It Right – Flip Flops On Marc-Yvon Côté Remarks

Mulder

FlipFlopsAfter the backlash in the press yesterday Citoyen Dion is backtracking on his comments about reinstating banned party members.

“Certainly, you cannot exclude forever people who made mistakes,” he was quoted as saying. “And someone who has even, I believe, recognized their error.”

Yesterday, Mr. Dion backtracked, insisting that he would have no involvement in reinstating Mr. Côté and suggesting it probably will not occur.

“I am not seeking to reopen that issue and there’s not an application [from Mr. Côté] as far as I know. There is a procedure we follow,” Mr. Dion said, asserting that party officials would handle any such case. “I’m not recommending anything.”

Dion is quickly building a reputation as the “wrong choice” for Liberal leadership.

Mr. Dion’s aides acknowledged privately that the leader is trying to bring the controversy to a quick end and is unhappy that his misstep could raise the spectre of the sponsorship scandal again — noting that his leadership campaign had stressed that he was a veteran Liberal with untainted integrity.

Aides said his comments were an off-the-cuff answer to an unexpected question.

< sarcasm > That’s what I want in a leader …… good solid off the cuff answers!! < /sarcasm >

Liberals Redefine "Life"

Mulder

This is huge.

Stealing a page from their judicial definition of “life”, the Liberals have redefined the term to mean “some arbitrary time we see as being fit”. Today, Citoyen Dion says he would not be against letting some of those banned for their part in the Sponsorship scandal back into the party.

Specifically speaking about bag man Marc-Yvon Côté, who dispersed over $100,000 in illegal funds to several Liberal Party candidates, Dion says he would consider letting Côté and possibly others back into the party after they were banned for life.

Here we go again. Listen to CFRA newsclip below.

ADDENDUM For a crude English translation of Le Soleil, click here.

Liberals Flopping Like A Dying Fish On The Deck Of A Boat

Mulder

I’m getting pretty tired of the flip flopping.

The Liberals WILL endorse the budget. Either some or all of them. They can’t trust that every Tory and every Dipper and Garth will vote for it.

And despite their sabre rattling, we all know they won’t take down the government.

I hope Jack Layton gives his dippers a free vote on the budget. I really do. I also hope the Clean Air act negotiations do NOT take us back in to Kyoto.

Terror Free Oil?

Mulder

(See The Poll To The Right)

Terror Free Oil

The first “Terror Free Oil” gas station will be opening in the USA in the next few days.

The idea is to sell gasoline made from oil orginating in countries friendly to the United States.

Yoohoo!! That’s us up in Canada *waving hands*.

You can find out more information by visiting the Terror Free Oil Initiative. And to answer your question, it does not appear that any Canadian gas stations are part of this initiative.

30 Minutes Can Save Your Life …

Mulder

… If you tossed it away on being an environmentalista.

For those who don’t know, I went to dozens of Grateful Dead concerts in my youth. I used to have long hair, go unshaven for weeks, I wore tie-dye and Guatamalan pants and cruised around the American north east whenever the Dead were coming around. Heck, I was even at a concert in Rich Stadium in Buffalo the night before my Transform Analysis Final exam.

And one thing that I can tell you is that at a Grateful Dead concert there is lots of dancing and lots of drumming. This is not limited to the actual concert mind you, but what takes place the whole day of in the parking lot and for hours after the show. Past live concerts can be heard playing all over and if you walk around enough you find this circle of drummers. Anyone is welcome to sit in with their bongos or whatever they want to beat on. It’s actually quite surreal.

When Jerry Garcia died, I always wondered what would become of the Deadheads. What would this pro peace, anti war, anti capitalistic society do? What would the innovative ones among them do to survive? I am talking about the ones selling home made crafts and tie dyes and veggie burritos.

Now I know where they are all dancing and drumming.

(note: the video below contains some swearing, but is WELL worth the 30 minutes)

I can safely say that after watching this video, I have realized that over half the people show up at these things for the party and not the cause. I am not sure if I find that to be a good thing or a bad thing.

H/T to 905Tory

A commenter at 905Tory pointed out a link to Penn’s radio show where he interviews Patrick Moore. It is also quite enlightening. Patrick Moore WAS the International Director for Greenpeace until 1986 and grew the organization from the original fledgling it was to an entity pulling in $100 Million USD before resigning. Find out why.

How Does "Osama Bin Laden Middle School" Sound?

Mulder

This one takes the cake.

The Taliban is spending one million dollars to open its own schools in areas under its control in southern Afghanistan.

The group has announced it will provide Islamic education for students in six southern provinces.

The textbooks would be the same ones used during the Taliban rule.

The Taliban destroyed 200 schools and killed 20 teachers last year.

What a record. Destroy 200 and build one. That’s how you win over the citizens.

I was looking over the courses offered…

Sharia 101 – How To Hit A Woman Without Leaving a Visible Bruise (Full Burka and Hajib required)

Torture 010 – Beheading Dhimmis for Dummies

Advanced Electronics 200 – How to build a bomb using horse manure, a digital watch and a gyroscope

Turning Men Into Women

Mulder

manleggingsMark Steyn points out in his book America Alone that society is slowly making it unacceptable to be manly.

This is not helping matters.

When someone says leggings for men are the new “must have”, I say electroshock therapy is the new “must have”.

Milan – Now I know there are many out there who will think I have lost it when I write that a key, new must-have for men this coming fall will be a pair of leggings to be worn outside, not just in, the house, but that was the big message at the debut Marni men’s runway show this morning in Milan.

Leggings made of microfiber cotton and wool, shown in violet, forest green and Milan fog gray, all of them with stirrup straps, except of course for a couple of them cut above the knee, accompanied half the looks in this poetic, polished and unexpected collection.

Of Mice And (Boys Pretending To Be) Men…

Mulder

Tell me about the rabbits Stephane Dion.

“My first interest was for the society of animals, not of man,” he recalls. “We had a neighbour named Gaston Moisan, a biologist who was a deputy minister of natural resources. He set traps for the rabbits, to band them, and used to take me with him. He was 5-foot-7, but he was a giant for me.”

A charming childhood anecdote — except, according to Mr. Moisan, it never happened. “I don’t know how he could have imagined that,” the retired bureaucrat and university professor says. “I had nothing to do with Stéphane. And I never sensed any interest on his part for my work.”

H/T to Darcey at DustMyBroom.