CBC Still Running Craptacular Poll On Subsidies To Political Parties

You can vote in it as many times as you want if you just "delete cookies" between casting each ballot. I did 7 times before realizing that it was beneath my dignity.

Honestly? Why would CBC want to run such an easily manipulated survey? Sure, you claim you did a poll and its cheap, but you get what you pay for.

Easier to see why, as has happened here, a gang of young Tories might want to spend the day drumming up fake votes. CBC will, if they announce the results at all, include some caveat such as "this is not a scientific survey". Writers from other media outlets may not be so scrupulous, and it will get printed and broadcast as though it were actually news.

Does Bourque Paint Better Than He Drives?

News Aggregator and race-car driver Pierre Bourque has been trying his hand with brush and canvas.

Actually, I was going to make a bunch of cheap jokes but there are a few of his landscapes I rather liked...

Meanwhile, In More Important News

A commercial vessel travels the Northwest Passage for the first time. Though the MV Camilla Desgagnes is a super ice-class vessel, not "one cube of ice" was seen on the journey.

...which has got Gen. Walt Natynczyk a little bit worried.

Tory Talking Points Same For MPs And Yokels!

Here's a list of what the Tory War Room wants its MPs to say re the looming Liberal/NDP coalition government while giving radio interviews. Here is a list of what the Tory War Room wants its grassroots to say when they call their local talk radio station.

They're the same list! Or, more specifically, many of the talking points are the same word-for-word in both lists. Its gonna feel like deja vu all over again in radio land by the end of the weekend.

This struggle is really going down-market, but how will the Torys communicate with those who don't follow talk radio? High school graduates, for example.

Another CanWest Columnist, Another Apology

Bourrie's latest, about the continuing decline of CanWest, reminded me of something:

Statement

"I recently published a column where I mentioned the name of a local Ottawa reader who, being concerned with the contents of certain of my past columns, filed, as is her right, complaints with the Ontario Press Council (OPC). Although I do not agree with her allegations as set out in her complaints, she has expressed that her allegations are founded and she was acting in good faith. I used words to describe her complaint which may have been misconstrued to be a personal slight against her. I did not intend to offend her personally and regret if I did so."

David Warren

Naming someone who launched an OPC complaint against you? That smacks of intimidation. Here's the column with the name pulled, from Warren's website.

Why A Coalition Government Might Last Longer Than You Might Think

Harper is finished. If not on Dec 8, then not much longer after that. He knows it. Mackay knows it. Prentice knows it. And, of course, Flaherty knows it.

Because the Tories might be in the midst of a leadership race of their own.

What The Polls Tell Us About An NDP/Liberal Coalition

They tell us there's a couple of Tory Freepers out there with very sore thumbs.

Climate Change Denier Says NDP/Liberal Coalition Can't Work

Remember Barry Cooper? He's the guy that wrangled the junk scientists at Friends of Science (Tim Ball's gang) their operating money, under odd circumstances.

When you read his remarks on a potential NDP/Liberal coalition, keep that in mind. This guy is ready to sling bullshit.

Harper And Flaherty Tank Canadian $

TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar fell against the U.S. dollar on Friday as the possibility of a second federal election in three months raised uncertainty among investors about the government's focus on dealing with the financial crisis.

[...]

"When you've got a government which is basically, when they talk about the opposition parties, that there's been a declaration of war in parliament, it's not necessarily a good thing for the currency right now," said David Watt, a senior currency strategist at RBC Capital markets.

"A lot of investors are rewarding governments that are showing strong leadership on the financial crisis and it looks like we're (Canada) going to be thrown into disarray."

Not much question whose getting the blame here, is there?

The Possibilities

Harper backs down.

From Wells comments (Jeff Jedras, I think):

Harper will back down. He’s not leaving 24 Sussex any time soon. He’ll carve the party financing stuff out into a separate, non-confidence bill, throw in a little earlier stimulus to mollify one of the opposition parties, and live to fight another day, his bluff having been called.

Some Liberals catch a flu:

Liberal finance critic Scott Brison said it would be "premature" to discuss the prospect of a coalition or even to firmly state that all Liberals will vote against the update on Monday. He was happy, though, to attack the Conservatives.

As I argued yesterday, if the point is to kill the subsidy cuts, this might work. There has to be legislation introduced, it has to go through various committees, to the Senate, etc. At some point it could all die in the night. And, as Kadey notes, there is no sign of this legislation in the update or elsewhere:

According to the Man in the Striped Tie who is in charge of explaining stuff to confused journalists, the legislation will be introduced “soon”. How soon? Well, before the House rises for Christmas, although he admitted that it was unlikely that it would make it through Parliament before the break — which means that we may not have an election showdown until the New Year. Oh, and remember all that stuff about belt (or, depending on your perspective, noose) tightening beginning at home for all political parties? The specifics of those cuts/freezes/whatever to MP and ministerial salaries are also left to the imagination; presumably that, too, will be in the magical mystery Bill C-2. (I’m assuming it will be C-2, since there’s no indication that the government plans to break its perfect record of not introducing legislation between now and whenever the bill is finally tabled.)

Now, I am not one of those who thought the Lib's abstaining did them much harm last election. At least it did less harm than Dion's trying to explain the Green Shift in garbled English. And with respect to any number of contentious bills (C-6, C-10, C-484), the process worked. In this case, however, the optics may be too awful to contemplate.

Weird Shit Happens

If the Liberals do the right thing and oppose these cuts, along with the rest of the opposition, I suspect we are more likely to see an outcome such as this:

Canada’s constitutional law dealing with minority governments was altered in 1968 when Pearson’s government was unexpectedly defeated on a matter of confidence. While this should have led to an immediate dissolution of parliament, none of the parties were ready, and Pearson was in the process of being replaced as leader of the Liberals. By mutual agreement among the party leaders, a new motion was passed that retroactively declared that the budgetary matter on which the government was defeated was not a matter of confidence, setting a new precedent.

As a final note, if these sudden events inspire the Liberal Party to get a new leader in place on the cheap and before May '09, then some good will have come of it. At this point I don't give a crap who it is. If its Iggy, hopefully Kinsella will make a man out of him (teach him to drink beer and say eh), and I will always be around to provide character building ridicule on occasions when he says things like "The Spotted Boa is a noble animal, which consumes its prey head-first and eats it whole, later excreting it in compact pellets and thereby reminding me of me."

Update: Tories take option number 1--They Cave!

Interviews With Our Heroine

Kim Ouwroulis, whose Human Rights complaint I've discussed here, talks of her life and loves. Meanwhile, terrorists meeting in Mississauga strip clubs? Oh My!

Ezra Strikes Back Again!

On November 10th, the National Post posted on its Full Comment Web blog a column entitled “Ezra Levant: Canada’s free speech enemies to lay Remembrance Day wreath,” which included a link to another Web site that suggested lawyer and human rights activist Richard Warman had posted an offensive item on the Freedomsite website about Senator Anne Cools. The National Post has no evidence to support this allegation against Mr. Warman and it hereby retracts any suggestion that Mr. Warman manufactured any statement about Senator Cools. The National Post apologizes for any embarrassment this has caused Mr. Warman.

When will these guys learn?

PS. Please note once again that linking to defamatory material can itself be defamatory.

But How Will It Play In Quebec?

And here’s his closing argument in English-speaking Canada. Should the taxpayers of Canada finance the separatist movement? Answer: no.

I guess The Tories only have 8 or 9 seats there to lose, right?

A Somewhat Credible Rumour?

Update III: An “I Support Public Campaign Financing” facebook group has already popped up and I’m hearing a somewhat credible rumour that the NDP, Liberals and Bloc are or have already held a teleconference to discuss the possibility of forming a coalition government.

Anyone else heard this?

PS. On the other hand, this smells vaguely of surrender.

Or maybe its all a ploy.

For example, if you wanted to cut this subsidy, floating a rumour that you were going to kill it outright might make whatever you actually do seem reasonable

Your Daily Nazi: The Nazis Don't Like It!

The Moon Report gets a pan on Stormfront, and for obvious reasons. Hand over regulating this kind of material to the police, and you will wind up with more police on your ass, if you're a Nazi or other form of bigot.

Tom Wappel: Even Catholics Don't Give A Shit!

Tom Wappel bitches to Lifesite about how poorly he's been treated over the years by Catholics. My favorite bit is his story about visiting YellowKnife Catholic school where the students showed a bit too much independent-mindedness:

As long as I live, I will never forget being in Yellow Knife North West Territories in February of 1990. I was running for the leadership of the Liberal party of Canada in those days, there were 5 candidates - Jean Chretien, Sheila Copps, Paul Martin, Tom Wappel, and Jean Chretien. We were in North West Territories.

I was invited by a local Catholic superintendent of schools who was a supporter of mine in the leadership - to attend a Catholic high school question and answer period. I went. This is a Catholic high school, and remember, I was talking about things like respect for life. I wasn't really talking about marriage in those days because 18 years ago, that hadn't really come up yet. But I was talking about abortion and euthanasia and things of that nature.

To this day, 18 years later, one of my greatest regrets and tragedies - that, that was my worst experience as a politician in any school that I ever went to across this great country - and it was a Catholic high school. I felt, and I still feel in my recollections today, I felt like a piece of meat that was dangled over a pool of sharks and that is how I was treated by students and staff alike on these issues.

OK, if I was in a public high school, I might have expected it but not at a Catholic high school. I could not believe the vitriol that came from these students and their teachers at a Catholic high school. I was shocked, and I might say, so was the superintendant of schools that invited me. Not only was he shocked but he was embarrassed to the point of speechlessness. That sort of things should not be happening.

Why is it that Catholic high schools - and I hope I am not making a generalization - certainly, in that one, have that kind of an atmosphere.

Lack of sex, maybe?

Actually, it reminds me when I was back in highschool and one of the prominent SoCred ministers showed up. All she got was three questions about legalizing marijuana.

Flaherty Stiffs The Green Party

...among others:

Under the new proposal [to cut party budgets], this is how much the parties stand to lose:

Conservatives: $10 million
Liberals: $7.7 million
NDP: $4.9 million
Bloc Quebecois: $2.6 million
Green Party: $1.8 million

A burgeoning political organization like the Green Party depends heavily on taxpayers' money. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was able to greatly increase her profile in the recent election through cross-country advertising.

It's unclear how the Greens would be able to stage an effective campaign without that money, especially since they were unable to elect a single MP to Parliament.

I'm not quite sure how worried to be about this. I don't really follow the procedural niceties of parliament, but one of CG's commentors writes:

An economic update that would require changes to legislation?

It's hot air. Can't go forward without a ways & means motion, can't go forward without passing the senate.

And if this is really the case, if the move is "merely symbolic", then frankly I don't see it as being particularly clever symbolism either. I can already hear the cries of "Its an attack on our culture!" in Quebec, and you can make the case that it is a raw and ugly attempt to kill the environmental movement in the ROC.

It should also be pretty obvious to everyone that its an attempt to turn the channel on a possible 46 Billion dollar deficit, though it will do absolutely nothing to stem the red ink tide. Opportunism this rank is never good politics.

Steyn Gets Punked By 28 Year Old Literary Hoax

Remember the kerfuffle between Mark Steyn and journalism professor Dr. John Miller from a few weeks back? Dr. Miller accused Steyn of taking material for his review of Oriana Fallaci’s final book The Force Of Reason from illegitimate sources like the infamous Little Green Book: Sayings of the Ayatollah Khomeini.

Dr. Miller further suggested that this publication was probably some kind of hoax. Well, it turns out the LGB was debunked way back in 1980! Here's a scan of the first paragraph of a NY Times Book Review entitled "Bantam's Khomeini Book Stirs Dispute":

And here are Dr. Marvin Zonis remarks re the particular passage in question:

Guess we'll be getting an apology out of Mr. Steyn real soon now, hmm?

H/t the Law is Cool gang, who know how to do research.

Jonathon Kay: The Moon Report Is A Smorgasbord, And We May Pick And Choose Among Its Recommendations As We Please

The other day I predicted that, once the Speechys got past the news release of The Moon Report, their enthusiasm for it would began to wane. Well, it looks like a few of them have found their way into the body of the document and, indeed, they don't like what they're seeing.

Jonathon's Kay's response has been typical. Lets, he suggests, just reject all those aspects of the report we don't like:

Final upshot: Moon's basic idea to get rid of Section 13 is admirable. But one wishes that he had stopped there, instead of adding in all sorts of unfortunate ands, buts and howevers.

Presumably Mr. Kay would have The Moon Report land in Parliament 95% redacted.

But this will not fly as a political solution. For while the report advocates a repeal of Section 13, these "ands, buts, and howevers" have been added so that there would, theoretically at least, be no net increase in extreme hateful speech because of that repeal. In other words, they were added so that the groups that might be targeted even more extensively by bigots and hatemongers in the wake of a straight repeal, would not be so targeted.

Of course the Speechys don't give a crap about that but the government of the day which, as Kinsella notes, needs at least some support among the targeted groups to craft its coveted majority, has to at least pretend to.

Harry Abrams Strikes Back! More Notes On The Moon Report

In the late 1990s, Harry Abrams launched a human rights complaints against well-known B.C. journalist Doug Collins over columns written by Mr. Collins for Vancouver's North Shore News, in which Mr. Collins, among other things,

...questioned the Holocaust and denounced "Schindler's List" as propaganda.

Earlier this week I was able to contact Mr. Abrams, and he commented as follows on The Moon Report (I have made a few minor stylistic edits to the following):

...if Dr. Moon's recommendations were taken at face value, that would make it open season on the re-publishing of the Protocols of [the Elders of] Zion and more which doesn't specifically call for violence, but has nevertheless been widely recognized as a warrant for genocide.

Similarly, the Nazi era newspaper Der Sturmer, the most infamous newspaper in history did not specifically call for violence, but contained grotesquely hateful material, ALL OF WHICH would according to Dr. Moon be untouchable if his suggestions were to be accepted at face value, because were merely offensive ..

[...]

"..the paper had been filled with charges that Jews were about nefarious deeds everywhere in Germany, posing an immediate threat to each reader..."

Dr. Moon's suggestions also make it fair game for wide distribution of The Turner Diaries and The Hunter, Pierce's novels of violent race war that [influenced white supremacist] Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber. I doubt these books specifically said, after you've read this book, go out and kill black people!" But that's what Pierce intended them for. And that's how they were used.

These books deserve to be studied, and understood, like Hitler's Mein Kampf and other classics of hate literature, but the distribution should be controlled in some way, or at least they should be labelled as classics of hate literature.

Harry

Michael Coren Exercises His Free Speechydom

Coren: May I ask you a question? What do you teach?
Caller: Why is that relevant?
Coren: I’m asking you the question … it’s just courtesy … what do you teach?
Caller: I teach … um … health, science course
Coren: OK … I just got the impression … I’m not trying to be rude … but maybe English wasn’t your first language.
Caller: No … it’s not … but why is that relevant?
Coren: Because I think your English should be fluent if you’re teaching kids in the English language.

Yeah, Michael, and baldy headed pricks with fake English accents shouldn't be on the radio either.

h/t trssastt.

You May, If You Are So Inclined

...vote for this blog at the Canadian Blog Awards. I actually did not nominate myself, so thanks to whoever did.

I'm nominated in the overall best blog category, which seems pretty ambitious, as well as Best Political Blog. So go vote.

A Last Word On The Moon Report

Because I think, given the government's reaction to it, we are headed for years of further reports and submissions and committees and, in the end, nothing much will change.

Moon essentially endorses the CHRC's choices in selecting and pursuing section 13 cases. In fact, he suggests tweaking criminal code provisions such that all of the cases successfully prosecuted under section 13 would also be captured under the new regime that he has proposed. So while you can argue that using the CC for such work is inefficient, and you can argue that the odds of provincial police forces actually setting up "hate teams" is Nil, nothing in Moon's proposals would, in theory, let anyone who has already had a run-in with the CHRC off the hook.

What would happen is that complaints dealing with the kind of material now handled by the CHRC under section 13 would go to the various police hate crimes units (whose workload, Moon suggests, would almost certainly increase). So, while nowadays Connie and Mark, or Mr. Boisson, might get a letter from a government bureaucrat, under the new regime they would most likely get a call from a nice policeman, and this would occur just as their websites (via section 320.1 of the CC) disappeared until said policeman could decide whether its contents met the standard. Since Freedominion occasionally hosts calls for Muslim genocide in its forums, it is almost certain that they would be getting such phone-calls, and might wind up looking at jail-time rather than a fine and rebuke.

How that is supposed to be an improvement, I do not know.

Justice Minister: Moon Report A Formula For Inaction

From the Montreal Gazzete:

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson told Canwest News Service he has no plans to introduce legislation to strip the human rights commission of its online mandate, but he described the report as a "step in the right direction" for a House of Commons review.

From Deb Gyapong's blog:

[Darren] Eke said the Justice Minister had indicated he wanted to have the justice committee look at Section 13 and was hoping that Conservative MP Rick Dyskstra would again make a motion to that effect.

Perhaps the justice committee could also review the Moon report, he said.

Except, Deb discovers:

Well, I just scrummed Dystra on his way into Question Period. He said he's not even sure he's going to be on the Justice Committee as he is now the Parliamentary Secretary to the Citizenship and Immigration Minister.

By far the best coverage of developments at Ms. Gyapong's site. As the day progressed, it is as though you could actually hear her spirit being crushed.

Will The National Post Do The Right Thing And Join A National Press Council?

Jonathon Kay writes:

Will the government now do the right thing and get the CHRC out of the censorship business?

Richard Moon's report recommends repealing or, if not repealing, amending section 13 of the CHRA. It also recommends , in the case of repeal, revitalized press councils to deal with remarks appearing in the MSM which are "unfair or discriminatory" while not reaching the level of hate-speech. It would grant these press councils special powers:

To advance this end, all major print publications should belong to a provincial or regional press council that has the authority to receive a complaint that the publication has depicted an identifiable group in an unfair or discriminatory manner and, if it decides that the complaint is well-founded, to order the publication to print its decision.89 A decision by the council that its code of conduct has been breached results not in censorship but in "more speech" – the publication of a statement that the newspaper breached the code and, more particularly in this context, that it published material that unfairly represented the members of an identifiable group.

If the major publications in the country are not all willing to join a press council, then the establishment of a national press council with statutory authority and compulsory membership should once again be given serious consideration. A newspaper is not simply a private participant in public discourse; it is an important part of the public sphere where discussion about the affairs of the community takes place. As such, it carries a responsibility not to defame or stereotype identifiable groups within the Canadian community.90

Note that in, for example, the Macleans case, had Dr. Moon's recommendations been law Macleans may well have been ordered to print a decision finding Mark Steyn's article to be discriminatory. But this is exactly the point--editorial control-- over which Maclean's claims to have fought the HRC complaint against them. In other words, where they "won" their HRT case, they might well have "lost" a press council case and been forced to forgo editorial control anyway.

So the report does not just call for the repeal of section 13. As far as I can tell, it calls for a redistribution of some of the penalties the CHRC is allowed to impose in section 13 cases to other bodies, which would then be able to dole out punishment in situations where, were a complaint brought under section 13, that case would have been dismissed.

Once the Speechies get passed the news release, some of their enthusiasm will wane.

More on this later, obviously. Fascinating stuff.

Update: the waning process has already begun.

Canadian Islamic Congress Steps Into The Future

Dr. Mohamed Elmasry, founding national President of the Canadian Islamic Congress, announced today that he will step down, effective January 1, 2009 after leading the organization through its first decade.

He will be joining the board of The Canadian Charger, a newly established mainstream multi-media online magazine using the latest in communications technology. Its public launch is planned for late spring of 2009.

Activists of any stripe tend to be crusty bastards, but at some point you start hindering rather than helping your cause. Mo Elmasry reached that point some time ago.

h/t Five Feet of Fat Chick, who has her uses.

PS. Although Google has no information on any magazine with that title. So, a hoax email?

Buckets On The CHRC Wifi Case

I think B's conclusions are essentially the same as mine (because he was the one that worked most of this out in the first place), but he gives a nice breakdown of the puzzle. He doesn't speculate as to why the RCMP did not pursue the "technical data" from Stormfront, merely notes that "a closer look at the evidence wasn't possible given jurisdictional issues".

I, on the other hand, would speculate that Stormfront owner Don Black, who was instrumental in filing the original complaint, could have simply handed over this technical data--presumably logs--to the RCMP (as was done with the original IP address) but, for whatever reason, chose not to, and the jurisdictional issues that arose were the kind that would have been involved in compelling an American website to provide material to Canadian authorities.

Buckets hypothesizes:

Black would not want to hand over his logs to the RCMP, of course, since this would expose many of their Canadian members to prosecution for hate crimes.

And it is far from clear what shape the logs themselves were in. Or, indeed, whether Black ever consulted them. (It is likelier that he merely used his bulletin board software's lookup feature.)

How true how true.

Gwyn Dyer On AGW Geo-Politics: We Should Give The Yankees All The Water They Need

A terrific, if grim, piece by Gwyn Dyer in this week's Embassy Magazine. My favorite bit:

"...the Americans are losing large chunks of agricultural production. They're going to have to evacuate parts of coastline. There are parts where you can't get insurance already.

"So they're going to be moving people around. And they're going to be very short of water. They're already short of water everywhere west of the Mississippi. They have built very large cities in effectively desert. I mean, even now it's really a desert, 40 million people. This is not a good plan.

"And they're going to need the water. And when they get seriously crippled by this, I don't think they're going to take no for an answer from Canada if it doesn't want to sell its water.

"In fact, I would go this far: We need to start selling the Americans water in the near future as soon as they want it and are willing to pay some nominal price for it because you want to put this exchange on a commercial basis before it becomes a strategic issue. And there are ways of doing it that don't harm us.

"But you sell them water now or soon they'll kick the door in. And actually, I would show them where the door is because they'd be right, they'd be within their rights. You cannot let your neighbours go short when you have a surplus. But there are ways of doing this that don't hurt our interests.

Also interesting are the comments re getting access to Canadian climate scientists. Short version: the gov wouldn't let him. He doesn't mention the arctic, however, which strikes me as an oversight. There are huge possibilities for armed conflict up there as the ice melts.

NDP Shadow Cabinet

Linda Duncan, who knocked off Rahim Jaffer (with the help, apparently, of the Taliban), gets environment. The whole list is here.

Slow news day, obviously. Ah well, I'm sure someone cares.

Bob Rae: Don't Want No White Men Around Here

Probably the most famous Jobmart ad in Ontario history:

The competition [for this position] is limited to the following employment equity designated groups: aboriginal peoples, francophones, persons with disabilities, racial minorities and women.

By the way, I am only picking on Bob today because Iggy's campaign strategy appears to be "you can't do anything stupid if you don't do anything at all". If someone spots the guy moving, please let me know.

But the point is: the attacks on Bob Rae, should he become Liberal Party leader, will not only concern Ontario's economic performance when he was premier. They will also tee-off on some of the weird, doctrinaire Lefty stuff that came out of his government.

PS. I also vaguely remember Bob Rae's taxes on "YouBrew" outfits, and I am working on a post in which I characterize Bob as "anti-beer".

Because Assholes All Look The Same To Me

From Protein Wisdom:

Well, not really:

Shaidle has the more impressive mustache.

A Sign O' The (Bad) Times? Dollarama Hiking Prices

A number of City of T.O. employees, who by materials from them in bulk, have been told that the stores can no longer turn a profit selling their products for $1. No word on when prices will be hiked or by how much. Presumably, the chain will keep its current name.

You heard it here first.

Our Urine Recycler Isn't Working

Something you don't want to hear when you're an Astronaut.

Keith Martin Strikes Back!

Two days before the CHRC is cleared of wrong-doing, Keith Martin turns M-446 into M-153

M-153 — November 19, 2008 — Mr. Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca) — That, in the opinion of the House, subsection 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act should be deleted from the Act.

PS. M-153, like M-446, is still pretty pointless, a statement of opinion, not a change in the law. Still...

More On Those Mississauga Exotic Dancers

American P.I. and blogger Bill Warner has begun following this story. While Warner's references to Muslim terrorists in Mississauga is a bit puzzling, there is much good material in his post.

Here, for example, is the website for the club where Kimberlee and the other dancers involved in the Human Rights complaint used to work, including a map and some clips of the current employees plying their trade. (Tell yourself: "I am here because I am interested in Human Rights law...I am here because I am interested in Human Rights law...")

And here are some old T.O. Star stories about the legal trouble this club has suffered in the past, although it should be noted that club-owner John Sit was never in the clubs when they were raided and never charged.

h/t Kimberlee, and happy birthday!

Update: in a last bit of Human Rights news, a "real court" backs an HRC.

CHRC Off The Hook

The RCMP will not pursue charges against the Canadian Human Rights Commission over allegations that its investigators hacked an Ottawa woman's wireless internet account to conceal their identity on websites under investigation for hate speech, the National Post has learned.

This one has been a foregone conclusion ever since Marc Lemire pulled similar claims from his constitutional challenge a couple of months ago. If the man behind the criminal complaint didn't believe his own allegations, why should anyone else? Nevertheless, the decision has been a long time coming.

Furthermore, the charges were ridiculous in the first place. As I have argued repeatedly, at about 350 metres distance, Nelly Hechme's wifi network was out of range of CHRC computers. Nor would it have been necessary for the CHRC to hack her connection, as a wifi scan of the street in front of CHRC HQ shows any number of wireless access points within range.

Furthermore, as some excellent work by Bucket's demonstrated (well, I helped a little), the IP address that Stormfront owner Don Black and Marc Lemire handed over to the tribunal was originally used by CHRC investigator Dean Steacey to access Stormfront in September of 2006. Given the highly dynamic nature of Bell's wireless network, it is wildly unlikely that Streacey's computer should have been given the same IP address in December, when he accessed the site on a 2nd occasion.

I wrote at the time:

Hint One: Most likely nobody visited Stormfront from 70.48.181.203 on December 8, 2006. Not Steacy, not Hechme--nobody. Lemire's criminal complaint, which refs that IP number, will therefore come to nought.

Hint Two: Given the search tools employed by Stormfront, a thorough search of IPs related to Jadewarr should have returned more than a single address. And the address used by CHRC staff in December, 2006 is almost certainly sitting undiscovered in Stormfront records.

This is interesting in the light of this bit from Brean's National Post story:

...to investigate further would involve [the RCMP] going after technical data from a website based in the United States, stormfront.org, which they said is not possible.

Mark Lemire elaborates unhelpfully:

...the RCMP will not criminally charge the CHRC with theft of an innocent woman’s internet connection because the evidence leads to an American website, which is outside the jurisdiction of the RCMP.

Well, wait a minute, if Don Black handed over technical information to Lemire, why could he not do the same for the RCMP? It is quite possible that he in fact refused to hand over this information, and that he is hiding the presence of the 2nd address mentioned above in his records. In other words, the information turned over to the Tribunal and RCMP may have been intentionally left incomplete.

Found Orbiting The Sun

WARSAW (AFP) — DNA studies on two strands of hair and a tooth have ended a centuries old hunt for the tomb Nicolas Copernicus, the 16th century astronomer who shocked the world by declaring that the Earth was not the centre of the Universe, experts said Thursday.

His final thesis was only published, however, in the year of his death. His ideas challenged the Bible, the church and past theories...

Note also that chicks apparently dug him because of his scars, and he got into knife fights. Sounds a bit like Jean Chretien. A good Liberal, obviously.

Global Warming Pushes Bigfoot North

Environmental niche modeling demonstrates how Global Warming has pushed Bigfoot into the Northern-most part of its range... towards Canada, in other words.

Ezra Dodges Debate

John Gordon Miller teaches journalism at Ryerson. He has been an on-and-off participant in the Canadian blogosphere's great Speechy War for the past year or so. Most recently, he has confirmed what most of us have always suspected...that the "sources" behind Mark Steyn's most inflammatory claims re Islam and its practices are either far right blogs, discredited, or entirely non-existent.

Recently, John Miller challenged Ezra to an e-mail debate on the J-source website, the topic being "freedom of speech vs. responsibility ". Ezra's response has been, naturally, to smear the professor and dodge debate. I suppose for the Ez, it is easier to hide behind the small army of sycophants that cluster around his blog than to actually have to make and defend arguments in a 3rd party forum.


So lets be clear about what's going on here, Ezra. This chicken's for you.

Speechy Warriers Get Sweet FA Outta Throne Speech!

Jay Currie, on who's winning the Speechy Wars:

So, while we appreciate the polite efforts and advice of the adults, excuse us while we play a winning game. And, yo, adults, the fact is that a fair number of us speechers have a fair bit of experience in politics, journalism, publishing, marketing, organization and public relations. Possibly more than you do.

Here's more Jay Currie, on what it would take to finally win the Speechy Wars:

All Nicholson has to do is insert one line into the throne speech and introduce a three line bill [striking down section 13 of the CHA] which already has a measure of bi-partisan support. And do it in the face of an entirely disorganized Opposition which is terrified of an election. How hard can that be?

And here's what the throne speech said about section 13:







All quiet over in the Speechysphere. Its as though they don't yet realize, after all the work they put into passing p-203 at the Tory convention, that they've been sodomized again.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your awesome genius with us, Jay.

Vic Toews Speaks Out On Upcoming Session

Looks like a version of C-484 is coming back:

Back in the summer, Minister Nicholson announced our Government’s intention to introduce legislation this fall to strengthen the criminal law response to violence against pregnant women.

This new Bill would expand the list of aggravating factors to be considered by a sentencing judge to include the fact of a woman's pregnancy. While this Bill will not reopen the debate on abortion, our Government has made it very clear that we will protect pregnant women from violence.

Meanwhile, after speaking the party line on Section 13, Toews ends with some vacuous mush.

Our government is committed to the protection and promotion of human rights. We are also committed to ensuring that legitimate expressions of opinion, including religious free speech, are protected.

Sounds like a prescription for inactivity, but I guess we'll see.

Natty Post Claims False Scoop On Stripper Pics, Gives Liberal Blogger The Stiff!

That picture 1st appeared here (on this blog, which is mine) on November 10th. Plus several more exclusive shots!!!

Your coverage of Canadian Human Rights cases continues to be dismal. If you can't tell the truth about exotic dancers, how can you guys be trusted with anything???

No wonder your stock is under a buck!!!!

Ban Bandwidth Shaping

In several posts, I've chronicled my attempts to find out how, and even if, Rogers High Speed Internet was engaged in the practice of "bandwidth shaping" or "bandwidth throttling". In brief, I was given answers all over the map, from "no we don't do it" to "yes we do it to help stop child porn", literally depending on who answered the phone at the time. Well, the right answer turns out to be that in fact they have been mucking with my (and everyone's) upload/download capacity for years, and the CRTC is not happy about it:

In the coming days the federal communications regulator will issue a landmark ruling that has huge implications for Canadians' access to the Internet. The CRTC decision will determine whether Bell, Rogers and other big telecoms can continue to "throttle" Internet service.

Saveournet wants you to take action by going here. Not a bad idea. There's a petition you can sign.

The Future Of Journalism?

Entirely web-based, built from the ground up by MSM cast-offs, covering the kind of local news people want to read, and light on the kind of the opinionizing they don't...

Meet Voices of San Diego, MinnPost, and the St. Louis Beacon.

Mind you, the N.Y. Times piece also points out the short-comings of these endeavours. For example, how healthy is it to rely on funding from one or two wealthy patrons? Do we need hundreds of little Natty Posts, run by tiny Lord Black's, soiling our computer screens?

In any case, a far more likely way forward for the business, as opposed to assuming that bloggers will somehow step in as the traditional news-paper industry fails.

Maybe There Is A God

Focus on the Family, those arbiters and champions of Family Values™, are laying off over 20% of their staff… just in time for Christmas

Dancing naked around all those bon-fires and sacrificing that chicken must have worked! Yo, Santa!!! You're next, FATBOY!!!

H/T JJ, who has come out of retirement for this year's war on Xmas.

Why Libs Shouldn't Walk Away From Green Issues

...because people haven't, although though here in Canada they have walked away from the Green Shift in particular.

...which is why Iggy's answer here isn't bad, if a bit rote (from James Curran's notes):

Iggy: proud of Stephane's leadership on it. (Should be he wanted a carbon tax shift). Must remain faithful about enviromental sustainability. Gotta get the retail politics of this issue. Gotta figure out how to sell it. Has to work in the air, on the land on the sea where deisel fuels are used. We have to listen to cdns.

I have only vague memories of Ignatieff's 2006 green plan, but I recall it as involving a fairly aggressive cap & trade system. More generally, I think it was a good exercise for all the 2006 candidates to have been required to produce a fairly extensive statement of their environmental principles, and I hope that the same expectation applies this time around (although of course nobody expects them to lean as extensively on their environmental creds as Dion did).

Hint: it might make Iggy more palatable to Left wing of the party, who often look upon him as a Conservative in Liberal dress.

Link to Iggy's old platform paper. Thanks, James Curran.

Alberta To Become Have-Not Province?

Petro-Canada VP Neil Camarta holds a conference call to make official what has been obvious for weeks.

The Sturgeon County upgrader portion of the Fort Hills project has been 'put on hold".

I will refrain from gleeful cackling, but....

A blue-eyed sheik in Calgary somewhere is gonna be hawking their gold plated beer mugs!

Because an economic collapse is a kind of natural carbon tax.

Sorry, I cackled.

Score: Iggy 0, Bob Rae -1

I disagree with Spector:

...Mr. Rae succeeded in putting front-runner Michael Ignatieff on the defensive. In a populist and 'inclusive' age, no one wants to be seen to be engaged in, much less defending, meetings 'behind closed doors.'

The problem with this analysis is, while Rae's stunt might have looked good to a TV audience, the folks at home aren't electing the next Liberal leader. That job falls to party insiders, and I suspect that many of them might be a wee bit ticked-off. As one of Spectors commenters says:

First [Rae] has to win back all the Ontario riding association presidents and others he alienated yesterday. It is one thing to make a point and another thing to boycott all the volunteers who would typically be there to help.

Your Morning Giggle

OTTAWA—With the paucity of Liberal candidates and looming economic troubles, there are some Liberal insiders dreaming of a Paul Martin return to power.

Didn't someone hand this guy his gold watch already?

Totally unsourced. Authored by Sheila Copps. Hmm. I sense somebody struggling with a slow news cycle.

U.N. Sets Itself Up For A Freeping

I got this email from the U.N. the other day, asking me to visit their website (blanked out in the above) and complete their survey on what must be done to combat climate change. "Your views on which approaches to climate change will succeed and what key barriers are most slowing progress are important [enough(?)]to be widely heard." Thanks for the vote of confidence, fellows, but I have issues (beyond your poor grammar).


For example, how are you selecting your experts? My only thin claim to AGW expertise is the fact that I write this blog. Now, I note that you are making use of Globescan. I wrote about a previous Globescan AGW poll here, done by them on behalf of the European Climate Foundation. I was able to pick up the URL and complete the previous survey because it was widely circulated on a denialist mailing list. If I received your invitation because I participated in that survey, then it is likely that any number low-grade pseudo-scientists have received the same material, and your results are already in jeopardy.

In short, the security measures you have taken are dismal. I have redacted the URL to your survey in the above, but had I been so inclined I could have distributed it to any number of forums and lists with the tag "FREEP this poll!", and a 1,000 assholes with computers would have turned up at the site and essentially defaced the thing. Now, there are any number of methods by which this kind of result can be avoided, but your survey employs none of them. Pretty poor quality control for the U.N.

PS. Eli thinks the FREEPERS have already been on this one, but I have found no evidence for that yet. Probably just a matter of time, however.

Bob Bailed!

Rae Takes Toys, Goes Home! Not much for "anybodybut Iggys" in this little manouver. Can't fight Iggy if your boy won't fight.

Bob Rae's First Sleazy Political Manouver Scores Big!

Well, it is looking increasingly as if Bob Rae agreed to the format being employed in today's leadership debate and then broke the terms of that agreement to score cheap political points. Those cheap political points being: Iggy isn't ready to face the cameras, and he's just like Stephen Harper!

Well scored, Bob! All that civility stuff was just chin music anyway, right? Meanwhile, James Curran will be at the debate to let us know if hair gets pulled or specs broken.

Gawd this is exciting!

Iggy's First Gaffe!

...emerges in an attempt by the Ignatieff campaign to prevent media reps from getting a look at his (possibly all gaffed up?) performance at today's first leadership debate. I mean, we know the spin Iggy's campaign will put on this should nobody be present to witness: "He commanded the arena as one to Greatness born!" and etc., even if he spends half the event with his microphone stuck up his nose.

Sorry folks, you want a coronation? The rest of us want to at least see how your guy performs a few times before signing up.

What RT said.

Update: Read Wells for an alternative take on this. Thanks Sandi.

I Got One Of Them Cheap

The Museum of Nature, which contains 25 dinosaur skeletons and 500 bird specimens, is among the list of cultural institutions the government could put a "for sale" sign on

Some of the fossils in the Museum of Nature that are potentially up on the chopping block include a specimen of Megacerops,

...an extinct genus of North American brontotheriid mammal. All of the species had a pair of blunt horns on their snout (the size varying between species), with the horns of males being much larger than those of the females. This could indicate that they were social animals which butted heads for breeding privileges.

In fact, the museum includes a life sized model of a Megacerops family. They will look good in your drive-way for the low, low price of $64.95.

And this, Ambulocetus, was, believe it or not

...a whale,

...an early cetacean from Pakistan that could walk as well as swim. It lived during early Eocene some 50-49 million years ago. It is a transitional fossil that shows how whales evolved from land-living mammals. Having the appearance of a 3 metre long mammalian crocodile, it was clearly amphibious, as its back legs are better adapted for swimming than for walking on land, and it probably swam by undulating its back vertically, as otters and whales do.

Hey! You got $2? Sold for $2. Hand it from the ceiling in your living room. The kids will love it.

Conventional wisdom has it that you build up fat during the good years, and live on it when times are lean. On the other hand, when you cut taxes during the good years, you're stuck selling off the family jewels when things get a little bit rough. That seems to be the predicament we are in today.

Now That's A Nice Snake

Unfortunately, this 4-metre long specimen died trying to "attack" an electric fence. Darren Naish thinks this is real and not a hoax, and indeed there are more pictures here, one of which shows a small impala in its stomach, horns and all.

Your Daily Nazi: Nazis Press For Passage Of Lemire Resolution (P-203)

Its out of the Plenary session and, maybe, headed to the floor. Now some of the big-wigs in Canada's Far Right community are trying to put the Lemire Resolution over the top.

Tomasz Winnicki is out there spreading the word, asking his fellow white supremacists to "E-mail Conservative MPS to repeal Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act". Trace the link back to Stormfront and you will find, if the site is working (it wasn't earlier), that the man behind this whole outburst of on-line activism is ex-Progressive Conservative Paul Fromm.

Go lads! Help land this hot potato in Stephen Harper's lap!

H/T NoOne Special

Update: a cached link to Mr. Fromm.

I Didn't THINK I Was That Popular In High School

When Classmates.com told user Anthony Michaels last Christmas Eve that his former school chums were trying to contact him, he pulled out his wallet and upgraded to the premium membership that would let him contact long-lost fifth-grade dodge-ball buddies and see if his secret crush from high school had looked him up online.

But once he'd parted with the $15, Michaels learned the shocking truth: No one he knew was trying to contact him at all. Classmates.com's come-on was a lie, and he'd been scammed.

I signed up for their basic service ages ago, and every week I get a similar message. I've never bothered forking out the extra $15 to find out who it was from because, well, there are very few people from that time in my life that I want to run into again.

But this makes it official: that girl who wouldn't dance with me at the prom ISN'T trying to apologize and ask me to take her back. Good to know.

Accused Bomber's Publication Ban To Be Challenged

As is standard in bail proceedings, the evidence presented in Mr. [Hassan] Diab's is covered by a publication ban. The Citizen is attending the hearing at the Elgin Street courthouse and intends to report on the outcome.

Sources tell me that Edith Cody-Rice, counsel for the CBC, has indicated CBC will challenge the publication ban.

Guess Its Time To Rev Up The Ole Liberal War On Xmas

The Atheists claim they are not trying to offend anyone with deeply held Christian beliefs, but of course we're lying.

By the way I have it on good authority that not only was Santa black, he was morbidly obese.

Alternative Energy & Grid Reliability

Since NERC's (North American Electric Reliability Corporation) jurisdiction extends to a number of Canadian provinces, this new report detailing the impacts of climate change initiatives on the North American power grid system is particularly relevant. Some points to note:

1) Coal is not the future. Natural gas is.
Natural gas has increasingly been viewed as the “fuel of choice” by the electric industry as natural gas-fired generating plants are typically easier to site, have shorter construction times, and have lower carbon emissions than coal plants. Coal plants, on the other hand, have been facing increasing opposition and delays over the past several years, with over 30,000 MW of coal fired generation canceled or deferred between 2002 to 2007 (see figure) and an additional 3,500 MW cancelled or deferred in the first six months of 2008 (Figure 2).8

With that in mind, here is some rather important news you can file under "resistance to coal". Although Eli says its a little early to celebrate.

2) Clean coal is not out of the question, but not a slam dunk either.

The technology in its present form, however, requires further development before it can be relied upon as a significant portion of North America’s fuel mix. These technologies must become commercial before 2025 in order to become a viable option.

One big obstacle is, apparently, generating the extra electricity to run the carbon sequestratin' machines!

3) Cap and Trade Schemes are tricky.

Looking ahead to a potential cap-and-trade environment, managing carbon credits and allowances to permit critical coal (and gas) facilities to run will be essential to maintaining reliability. In specific reference to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in the Northeast, Peter Carney, Lead Environmental Engineer at New York ISO in Rensselaer, NY commented: “Without sufficient allowances, generators cannot operate to meet bulk power system electricity needs and also comply with the RGGI program.” While it may seem to be only a matter of setting reasonable annual targets, Carney continues by explaining: “The minimum level of allowances needed in New York State will vary from year to year, depending upon a number of factors including, but not limited to, weather conditions and the availability of hydroelectric and nuclear generation. Several situations can be postulated that can result in an insufficient supply of allowances. For example, a loss of a major nuclear plant could translate into a need for an additional 10 million tons per year of CO2 allowances.”

4) Transmission, Transmission, Transmission

Existing transmission infrastructure is inadequate to reliably integrate new renewable resources to demand centers.15 Evidence of this exists today, as “transmission limitations are already imposing significant constraints on wind development, with massive interconnection queue backlogs and forced curtailments of wind.”16 Further, the transmission grid was not designed for the long distance continental transport of power, and will require enormous study to ascertain the best plan to meet potential requirements of climate change initiatives.

[...]

“areas that are rich in renewables … do not correspond with areas where the transmission system is the strongest.

And if anyone is suggesting a nuclear renaisance, the last statement applies in that case as well.

As an aside, all sorts of opportunities for NIMBYism here. You can't consistently be in favor of green power but against the power lines that are supposed to carry it.

5) The grid can be made smarter.

Lots of talk of Demand Side Management, Energy Efficiency, and the like.

6) National policies on climate change are needed

Some (Nordhaus I think) have argued that any over-arching climate change agreement should be the sum of local/regional initiatives. NERC stake-holders don't buy it.

One thing is made clear by the responses to NERC’s request for comments: legislative and regulatory uncertainty is problematic: “This uncertainty makes it difficult to determine the potential impact and risks associated with GHG emissions; to make effective, strategic capital investment decisions; and to project our costs, revenues, and profits. A clear national policy on global climate change is needed for our industry to plan for the future,” as Dan Steen, VP Environmental, FirstEnergy Service Company of Akron, OH comments. For, “while deliberations on climate change must consider economic and reliability factors, the uncertainty associated with the outcome of protracted deliberations is the most problematic issue,” as Bob Kahn, President and CEO of ERCOT in Austin, TX stated.

Because its not just about boobies here at BCLSB.

Ezra Endorses "Lemire Resolution"

...otherwise known as P-203.

But when it comes up for debate, man, he's gonna be miles away. Unbreakable commitments. Bathing the pet hamster, and so forth. Playing mini-golf with an important business partner. That kind of thing. You're on your own, Speechies!

But keep those pay-pal donations coming!

CanWest Unionists Can't Ride Well

Some otherwise good advise to the Aspers spoiled by pur spelink:

CanWest, Canada's largest media company, now has its stocks trading forpennies not dollars. As with financial institutions south of the border, it isa victim of its own greed. There will be no bail-out, it needs to sell [media holdings] to haveany hope of riding the ship.

CNW charges $2.30 for each of those words, fellas. Don't go wrecking any of them.

Rachel Marsden On The Plight Of The National Post

...frankly, they can bite it.

And biting it they apparently are.

PS. Click through the first link to read Rachel Marsden talking dirty. I mean real dirty.

What's Wrong With Two Toronto Guys

...running for the Grit leadership?

After all, the demographic/ethnic makeup of the Greater Toronto Area mirror's that of Canada as a whole. For example, out West we have a lot of stupid people.

Ezra Levant Strangely Silent On Resolution P-203

...while the rest of the Conservative blogosphere churns with anticipation.

He went silent at election time, too. When he could have actually influenced the debate, Ezra disappeared into the Tory War Room for a month where, apparently, you get three square meals a day. As a result, the Speechy Agenda languished. In fact, whenever the CPoC's pitch-fork wielding peasants get a little to close to the village walls, Ezra absconds from the battle-field.

But, true believers, keep those pay-pal donations coming!

Oh, and this little bit of advice of Ezra's...

...remove that filthy wreath from the cenotaph, and place it where it belongs: in the garbage.

...is probably illegal.

Ignatieff Makes Leadership Aspirations Official! Gets Bucket Stuck On Head!

Just kidding.

But will the future resemble the past? Will "gaffe prone" become Iggy's middle name? It would certainly be more entertaining that way although, I suppose, bad for democracy.

PS. From same article, Kennedy is officially out!

Marc Lemire Supports Conservative Party Resolution P-203

...to repeal Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Marc, former leader of The Heritage Front, once member of the Canadian Alliance, (a precursor to today's CPoC), wiki sockpuppeteer extraordinaire.... you still got it, boyo, you still cast a shadow over the Canadian Conservative movement.

So far Marc hasn't weighed in on the whole polygamy debate. We'll have the exclusive here at BCLSB when he does.

h/t RB.

Ezra Pisses Away $500

He sends out a CNW news release demanding that Jennifer Lynch of the CHRC not desecrate the National Remembrance Day Ceremony by laying a wreath in Ottawa!

He is roundly ignored, both in the press and on the ground! The wreath gets placed! The world goes on!

Toronto Life On Aqsa Parvez

A bit of a storm over the Toronto Life story Girl, Interrupted, which chronicles the life of Aqsa Parvez, and her death at the hands of her father. The only problem I have with it is that the TO Life cover -- which contains the words"The untold story of Toronto's first honour killing"--is misleading and unnecessarily inflammatory given that the story itself does not demonstrate that Ms. Parvez's murder was in fact an honour killing, or even really take a stand on the issue. Search it for the phrase and you get:

Was her murder an honour killing or simply a gruesome case of domestic violence? Worldwide, an estimated 5,000 women die every year in honour killings—murders deemed excusable to protect a family’s reputation—many of them in Pakistan, where the Parvez family had emigrated from.

[...]

Aqsa’s death got to the heart of a heated debate about women in Islam. Some progressive Muslims, such as Tarek Fatah and Farzana Hassan of the Muslim Canadian Congress, saw her murder as evidence of rising Islamic fundamentalism in Canada. The majority of Muslim leaders, however, insisted that Aqsa’s murder was not an honour killing. Mohamed Elmasry, who heads the Cana­dian Islamic Congress, and Shahina Siddiqui, president of the Islamic Social Services Association, described the death as a teen issue and a case of domestic abuse.

Should it be revealed in court that the death of Aqsa Parvez indeed an honour killing, then arguments like those raised here might be seen as a deliberate attempt to evade the issue.

But, hey, if you're not going to prove it, then you shouldn't splash it across your cover.

Tues. Morning Human Rights Pot Pourri

An editorial from Law Times on our adult dancer and her HRT case. Their take:

This is a surprisingly tough one. It’s as easy to dismiss Kristy with an eye-roll, as it is to argue for the other side. It will be interesting to see how the tribunal rules.

Meanwhile Werner Patels has a nice piece explaining why, among other things, the Stephen Harper gov. won't get within five miles of the Speechy cause. Hint: the Speechy leader is an enormous dick.

Jay Hill: Expect Cuts

In the meantime, Ministers and their departments and staff are already in the midst of intensive activity, review and analysis with the ongoing objective of enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of federal programs and services. Canadians elected us with the expectation that we would look for savings wherever we can to ensure fiscal integrity in government through difficult economic times.

Not too surprising, I guess. But, given the new rhetoric of moderation out of Hill and the CPoC I don't expect these will be large enough to 1) stir up any more than modest outrage, or 2) do much good.

If Only Gays Could Be Satisfied, Like Pigs And Cows And Other Barnyard Animals

Because, as Bourrie points out, while gays got hosed, pigs and cows and other barnyard animals had their rights significantly expanded:

...Proposition 2 is as follows:

- Requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely.

-Exceptions made for transportation, rodeos, fairs, 4-H programs, lawful slaughter, research and veterinary purposes.

-Provides misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days.

They didn't go about protesting in the streets and now they've got rights to about the same level as Gays did back in California in the 1970s. I bet, in the end, they get the right to marry before gays do! Pigs and cows lying down together! Oh my!

Why We Fight...

...for Canadian Human Rights system. Or at least why I do:

Kimberlee sent me the original picture from which the one CBC used was cropped. Plus a couple of extra shots exclusive to BCLSB. The cat is named Monday:

Maybe Mark Steyn and Ezra and Marc Lemire are sending around excellent shots of themselves wearing nothing but Speedos that I'm not seeing, but otherwise, as far as I'm concerned, I'm on the right side of this one.

Here are a couple of the best stories dealing with the case, plus some brief commentary on the possible philosophical issues behind it.

As an update, there may be two further dancers beyond Kimberlee and Bridget that will be stepping forward shortly, and apparently several male ex-employees of the bar in question who may be pursuing legal action against its owner. There seems to be quite a bit behind the story.

So stay tuned! Human Rights! Good looking older women! This one has it all!

PS. No gratuitous piggery in the comments. There's a lady present.

Kinsella's Going With Iggy

He hasn't said anything for sure yet, but I can just freakin' sense it.

This is weird, man. Its like when Captain Picard joined The Borg.

Its Always More Fun In Quebec

Fighting at Nomination Meetings?
Getting busted for ripping down ADQ posters?

The most exciting thing that happened during the Ontario campaign is some guy fell asleep listening to Dalton McGuinty and busted his nose when he did a face-plant on a hard-wood floor.

And I might have dreamed that.

Tarek Fatah's Name Disappears From Silly Article

Yesterday, an article appeared on the website of The American Thinker entitled "The Islamist Role in the 2008 Canadian Elections", and authored, apparently, by "Raheel Raza and Tarek Fatah". By yesterday afternoon, however, Fatah's name had disappeared from the article's header, leaving Ms. Raza sole responsibility for the piece. By evening, his name had also been pulled from the version of the article present on the Islamist Watch site. Furthermore, Mr. Fatah showed up in the comments section of this blog, essentially disowning the piece, and wondering how I might have come to "associate" it with him.

Well, I have changed the attribution in the original post but, in answer to Mr. Fatah's question, as noted above (and as you can see from the screen capture below), the original attribution was based on the fact that Mr. Fatah was originally given as co-author.

Interesting, too, I think, in that Raza and Fatah are shown as co-authors of a number of articles previously published, for example here and here.

What the real story behind the cock-up is I have no idea, but I would note that "The Islamist Role...":

1) suggests a "Taliban-style overthrow" of North America is "unlikely, in the short term". Good news, that.

2) suggests that Rahim Jaffer lost out among Muslim voters because he was not ugly enough.

I wouldn't want my name attached to such a piece of crap either.