Prominent Catholic: Citizenship Guide Not Non-Gay Enough!

Catholic Insight's Fr. Alphonse de Valk say:

...we suggest that in the next printing the picture of “gay” activist Mark Tewkesbury which is still in the guide, be replaced by one of our gold medallists of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

Presumably one of the non-gay ones, which may rule out the women's hockey team. My wife--who teaches skating--tells me Scott Moir is probably okay ( he wants to join a police S.W.A.T team, which is a usually good sign, although on the downside he obviously likes dancing), but the rest of our figure skating team is a writeoff.

How Unusual Is Vancouver's Current Weather?

Given that this piece by Goldstein has been given large play in Denialist circles, it may be useful to find a slightly more knowledgeable source in response:

This is a highly unusual winter, warmer than most would expect from a moderate El Nino event. So far this year, every single day in Vancouver has been warmer than "normal", using the Environment Canada definition of normal. Every day in January exceeded the 1971-2000 January mean temperature is 3.3 deg C. So far, every day in February has exceeded the 1971-2000 February mean temperature of 4.8 deg C. When the Canadian athletes paraded into the snowy white BC Place last night, it was 9 degrees and raining.

The above was written on the 13th, by the way. Looks like the upcoming week will also be well above Feb. averages.

From Offensive

...to--a few dabs of war-paint less and some other minor costume changes later--cool with the elders.

...though still a bit too much like the characters from my least favorite Star Trek Episode.

And Then The National Beer Tent Caught Fire...

Why VANOC cancelled 28,000 spectator tickets for the snowboarding events:

The problem is that Vanoc built the spectator area out of bales of hay, with snow on top. But as the snow has melted in the unseasonably warm weather and rain, they’re worried that people could fall into the crevices of the hay. Said Vanoc’s vice president of ticketing Caley Denton: “The snow has washed away to the point where people can punch through and potentially step in between two big straw bales and that becomes a pretty deep crack. We’ve had people go right down to their knees, or in some cases ever farther.

Gonna be hard for Harper and Co. to ride THIS sucker to a majority government.

Although WWI Started Off Poorly As Well...

I am trying to restrain my typical dark cynicism over stuff like this, but if one more stupid thing happens, like for example the Canadian Olympic Beer Tent catches fire, I may not be able to stop myself from whipping out the Atlanta, Georgia comparisons.

Did Olympic security not think that a West Coast Event would attract West Coast, anti-G20, anti-globalization, black mask anarchist types?

PS. Riot pictures here. Quite a few of them. By the way, I'm on the cops side here 100%. Brain as many of them as you need to. They're young. It'll grow back.

Stockwell Day: Help Fill My Empty Hours

Stock tries to convince his constituents that's he'll be working hard over the holiday:

So I was able to buy two tickets for one of the non-playoff hockey games. It will be a great experience just to attend. And at the time I bought mine there were still some seats available, if you're interested.

[...]

(Just as an aside: I thought these tickets were sold off by lottery. However, I guess rank has its privileges.)

I will be in Vancouver for a good part of the time during the Olympics in my function as Minister for International Trade and the Asia-Pacific Gateway.

[...]

...next Monday I have a number of constituent meetings already booked but still have a couple of slots open. As usual, just call the office and we'll do our best to fit you in.

[...]

I've also set aside time for some door-knocking. As regular readers of this column know, I maintain a year round program of door-knocking in between elections as well as during elections. I have found this to be one of the best ways to hear from you, the voters and taxpayers. There's nothing quite like getting the views of people right on their doorsteps - no filters, no handlers, just me getting the straight goods from you.

So I may be at your door next week either in the Peachland/ Westside area or up in Merritt and Logan Lake.

I'm also looking forward to speaking next week at one of our local Rotary Clubs. Rotary, like many other local service clubs, is always a good venue for feedback.

There you have it. Stock's earning his pay-cheque, if not by guiding legislation through the HOC, then by wrangling hockey tickets for his constituents. Leave Stock alone.