The CBC Vote Compass

For what it's worth:

1. I did the survey according to my own personal beliefs and came out Conservative.

2. I then did the survey according to what the Harper PMOs actions have been, not on what party policy is and not on what Harper has said in the past. For example, Harper has cut military spending, so under that I entered somewhat agree with military cuts.

Another example: The Harper PMO fully agrees with AGW theory and has an offset system in place and ready to go ... it has also chastised the Alberta Oil Sands industry demanding it do "more".  For many questions, I voted in the middle based on PMO actions, which are to do nothing. 
 
I came out a hair to the Liberal side of center.

Tsunami: How Long it Took for the Crest to Arrive

BBC has the details on the town in which this video was shot ... it was one of few which survived because it had an unusually high sea wall. Read the details.

Liberals Gain

Momentum change or just a re-shuffling of the opposition deck?

The Dehumanization of Israel

In Which Canadian Jets Give Air Support to Al Qaeda

Al Qaeda is our sworn enemy, and Canadian soldiers, including my son, have fought the Islamic scourge in Afghanistan. Now, Canadian jets may in fact be offering air support to the very same people killing our soldiers in Afghanistan:

A former leader of Libya’s al Qaeda affiliate says he thinks “freelance jihadists” have joined the rebel forces, as NATO’s commander told Congress on Tuesday that intelligence indicates some al Qaeda and Hezbollah terrorists are fighting Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces.

Former jihadist Noman Benotman, who renounced his al Qaeda affiliation in 2000, said in an interview that he estimates 1,000 jihadists are in Libya.

On Capitol Hill, Adm. James Stavridis, the NATO commander, when asked about the presence of al Qaeda terrorists among the rebels, said the leadership of the opposition is made up of “responsible men and women.”

“We have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential al Qaeda, Hezbollah,” the four-star admiral said. “We’ve seen different things. But at this point, I don’t have detail sufficient to say that there’s a significant al Qaeda presence, or any other terrorist presence, in and among these folks.

... "flickers"? 

I'm reminded of the fact that all the intelligence forces in the world missed the fact that Libya had WMD ... and now we are to believe that the same "brains" know for a fact that their are only "flickers" of Al Qaeda in Libya. If US Special Forces are on the ground in Libya, then military intelligence is likely pretty accurate ... for now.

Remember, there were only "flickers" of Al Qaeda in Iraq when the Iraq War was launched yet it didn't take long for Al Qaeda and other Muhammadans to flood the country ... and that was despite a massive Coalition ground force in place.  Our "most excellent Libyan adventure" has all the smell of an impending fiasco ... after all, there is no compensating for the savagery and money that the international Jihad can bring to bear on Libya, and we won't be able to alter it without putting  boots on the ground.

Any bets on when the French Foreign Legion gets injected ... along with those US Marines sitting around enjoying the Mediterranean sun?   I guess we'll find out soon enough what 1 million barrels of oil a day flowing from Libyan ports can buy.

Update: What now?

Civilians fight against ... the rebels:

Jack Layton Finds Atlas

... in which Jack Layton shrugs:

NDP Leader Jack Layton has announced his party's plan to slash the corporate tax rate for small businesses, while offering these "job creators" incentives to put Canadians on their payrolls.

At a Wednesday morning campaign stop in Oshawa, Ont., Layton said that small businesses create nearly half the jobs held by Canadians and they should be supported accordingly.

"I'm going to reward the job creators because they are the ones that are helping build our economy," Layton said when speaking to reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

The NDP plan would drop the small business tax rate two percentage points to nine per cent.

In terms of hiring incentives, the NDP would offer a job creation tax credit that Layton said would be worth $4,500 "per new hire" to small business employers.

... who is, Jack Layton?

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Q&A

The Tsunami Video that Humbles

Perpetual Hung Parliaments

... thanks to the Bloc Quebecois?

If we want to fix our democracy, a very good first step would be for the three federalist leaders to declare their belief in the equality of all Canadians. From that principle they would promise to restore representation by population and oppose any policy of asymmetric federalism (granting favours to one province, or group of provinces, at the expense of the others). Such a declaration would signal clearly to the Quebec electorate that the ROC will no longer be blackmailed. It will be federalism calling the bluff of separatism. An independent Quebec is a fiscal impossibility today, unless the Quebecois were to become overnight libertarians, and over the long-term it is doomed by demographic trends. The pure laine are dying out.

I do not imagine that our political leadership will have the courage, or vision, to make such a declaration on their own initiative. Instead the people of Canada must force it upon them. It will come from the understanding that the succession of hung parliaments, myopic partisanship and politics of trivia is unlikely to end until we have a working and workable parliament. That cannot happen, not for any great length of time, with the continued presence of the Bloc Quebecois.

... ah yes, the great Canadian protection racket.

The Japan Syndrome

The radioactive core in a reactor at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant appears to have melted through the bottom of its containment vessel and on to a concrete floor, experts say, raising fears of a major release of radiation at the site.

The warning follows an analysis by a leading US expert of radiation levels at the plant. Readings from reactor two at the site have been made public by the Japanese authorities and Tepco, the utility that operates it.

... details.

Dead

I'm not sure even she gets it ... but the imam sure does; he's simply following in the footsteps of Muhammad:

The evil in Islam is not within Muslims, but within the ideology itself.

I watch this clip with fascination ... not at what the imam says because his backwardness is simply standard Islam; but fascination at how naive the actress is ... the evil is your ideology sweetie ... best do a Wafa or Hirsi or make funeral preparations. The sooner you name the elephant ideology in the room, the sooner you can be a force for good.

When 9/11 occurred, I along with most Westerners blamed Muslim extremists ... after a decade of study and example, it's become clear to any person unburdened by multicultural or "progressive" relativism, that the problem is Islam ... period ... full stop. The Muslim "radicals" are, in fact, people like the actress in this clip ... the imam is simply expressing Islam in it's pure sense.

Hundreds of Millions of Muslims in guano-holes like Pakistan struggle to maintain some sort of civilized life in the midst of Muhammadanism ... and I'd bet that nary more than a handful realize that they are fighting a loosing battle because the barbarians have Islamic text on their side ... they have the example of Muhammad on their side ... they have 1400 years of backwardness on their side.

Imagine living in 1943 Germany, and believing in Nazism ... but trying to be a good, wholesome, peace-loving Nazi at the same time. Image how ludicrous a spectacle were you to call Hitler and the millions who earnestly believed in the Nazi creed "radical Nazis."  Even the term "Radical Nazis" is an absurdity because the ideology at it's core is a radical, anti-human, evil ideology ... to be radical, you must reject the ideology altogether.

The true radicals in Nazi Germany hid Jews in haystacks and attics, sabotaged the regime however they could, or died fighting it.

The Great Middle Eastern Food Riot

A decade or more of Middle Eastern and regional upheaval:

From the Straits of Gibraltar to the Hindu Kush, instability will afflict the Muslim world for a generation, and there is nothing that the West can do to stop it. Almost no-one in Washington appears to be asking the obvious question: what should the United States do in the event that there are no solutions at all?

No one, that is, but US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius March 22 that "the unrest has highlighted 'ethnic, sectarian and tribal differences that have been suppressed for years' in the region, and that as America encourages leaders to accept democratic change, there's a question 'whether more democratic governance can hold ... countries together in light of these pressures'." The implication [Ignatius writes]: ''There's a risk that the political map of the modern Middle East may begin to unravel too, with, say, the breakup of Libya.''

Be sure to read the whole thing for a different take on what we may be in for.

Is the Taliban Collapsing

General David Petraeus said 700 fighters have now been through a “reintegration process” and another 2,000 were in “various stages” of the process.

He added that NATO estimates another “couple of thousand” have “gone back to their homes and laid down their weapons” of their own accord.

... more.

Our prediction ...

The Massive USA Energy Resource

Thus it perhaps falls to a friend of the US (i.e. me) to state that if the White House is in any way serious about impacting the economic Black Hole that is the burgeoning national debt, reinvigorating business big-time, creating real jobs and restoring ebbing national wealth, the best shot by a distance if you’re American ... well, you’re standing on it, or rather above it.

... Energy Tribune.

Thank You Mr. Ignatieff for the Upcoming CPC Majority

I get flack for suggesting that for Mr. Harper this election is about winning a majority or nothing, because a minority win will spell the end of his CPC leadership.

After a few days of election fever, I'm even more convinced of the above.

Why? Because, it seems inconceivable that any CPC leader with the capability of ever winning a majority can lose against a political bumpkin like this:

That Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff was unprepared to give a straight answer on coalitions last Tuesday, as soon as Jack Layton announced his rejection of the budget, was astonishing. That he was unprepared to do so on Friday was political malpractice of the highest order. “Gaffe” is too benign a word for it. This was unthinkable.

Yes, I know, anything can happen in a campaign. But, really ... when a master chess player is pitted against a plucky Snakes and Ladders players, whose fault is it, if the chess player loses ... unless of course, the chess player gets suckered into playing Snakes and Ladders.

The Impending Canuck Mortgage Meltdown

Is it truly "impending" ... or just a lot about nothing?

David LePoidevin isn’t the first person to suggest Canada’s roaring housing market is headed for a U.S.-style crash. But he is a rare breed of money manager for daring to point a finger at the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the country’s biggest mortgage insurer. In a fall 2009 note to his clients, LePoidevin questioned what was underpinning the country’s skyrocketing home prices, aside from rock-bottom interest rates. “The stock market was sure not providing huge capital gains to the masses,” he wrote. “Did the banks all of a sudden open up the lending spigots? In fact banks have actually reduced the number of their mortgages held from the peak of third quarter of 2008. The smoking gun is the CMHC and its securitization policies.”

A Most Excellent Libyan Adventure

Forget about Al-Qeada ... it's just a symptom:

For nearly 20 years, we’ve willfully blinded ourselves to the Rosetta Stone that decodes our enemy’s war doctrine. But the jihad (or shall we call it “kinetic Islam”?) is catalyzed not by al-Qaeda but by sharia — by Muslim law. So is the “Arab Spring,” now playing in Tripoli (and elsewhere) after rave reviews in Cairo.

I have been opposed to our country’s starting a war against Libya. And starting a war is exactly what we have done, exactly what we would call it if the shoe were on the other foot — the “kinetic” and “limited” obfuscations of intervention proponents notwithstanding. My opposition is fourfold.

In which Mark Steyn examines the new Sun Tzu ... The Art of Inconclusive War:

It is tempting and certainly very easy to point out that Obama’s war (or Obama’s “kinetic military action,” or “time-limited, scope-limited military action,” or whatever the latest ever more preposterous evasion is) is at odds with everything candidate Obama said about U.S. military action before his election. And certainly every attempt the president makes to explain his Libyan adventure is either cringe-makingly stupid (“I’m accustomed to this contradiction of being both a commander-in-chief but also somebody who aspires to peace”) or alarmingly revealing of a very peculiar worldview:

“That’s why building this international coalition has been so important,” he said the other day. “It is our military that is being volunteered by others to carry out missions that are important not only to us, but are important internationally.”

VDH asks a simple question which might as well be posed to Canada's Prime Minister ... who's going to protect civilians on the other side from the savagery of our new Islamist allies?

Are we still sort of neutral, or should we begin coordinating our tactics? And given the savagery of the last two weeks and the proclamations that Qaddafi will be subject to international justice, we must be prepared for a bitter finale and for reprisals on all sides. So does our support for the rebels include some efforts to ensure they do not end up doing to their enemies what their enemies did to them? (In this regard, who exactly are the rebels? And what are their aims, methods, and ideology?)

What We Are Reading

Earth Hour Saskatoon: Basking in the Light

An Epiloque:

My wife and I turned on all our lights, opened the blinds, fired up the car, and went for a drive around Saskatoon at the appointed hour of eco-mania called “Earth Hour”. We’ve been doing this every year since the green-fascists came up with the Earth Hour concept. And, once again, we were greeted by the same Saskatoon response.

The roads were full, for a Saturday night. The bars were hopping, restaurants were loaded to the gills, and theaters and city nooks and crannies were active. We did though, pass a few houses whose occupants were obviously in full Gaia worship ... sitting near their front windows with candles lit ... look at us, so pure ... so green. I truly felt sorry for them ... in fact, I felt pity.

Here’s why.

One of the most brightly lit up locations in Saskatoon was the Royal University Hospital (RUH) ... as it should be. The hospital represents the pinnacle of our civilization, the ground zero of technology and advancement for it is our medical system that (even with its flaws) has given us unprecedented longevity and quality of life. The Hospital glowed like a beacon. From across the river one could see the new annexes that have sprung up recently with their rows of not only functional lights, but decoratively arranged as well.

I imagined the tons of plastics and all manner of material that snake through and clutter every corner of RUH. Rare earth mineral driven technology keeps nurses and doctors informed and on the cutting edge of medicine, and miles of plastic tubing feeds drugs and plasma, while many miles more of cable keeps the massive structure injected with power. And that’s it, isn’t it? Pulsing through cables are endless currents of reliable power ... the life blood of RUH. Were that reliable on-demand power to be lost, life as we know it would be lost as well and it wouldn’t take long for those gentle souls with candles in the windows to be requesting ... nay demanding, its return.

Another thing that didn’t escape me was the cold ... it was very cold with the wind chill biting at my fingers as I fiddled with my camera. Yet, the people of Saskatoon were out and about ... they were living in the warmth provided by fossil fuels, they were living the Saskatoon dream which is best summed up by the city motto ... Saskatoon Shines!

So it is, that common sense prevailed once again in Saskatoon as the vast majority of people ignored the green busybodies, and instead basked in the light.

Saskatoon Earth Hour 2011

image: Saskatoon Celebrates Earth Hour 2011 (time of photo, 9:14 PM March 26) (click image for full size)(feel free to use as desktop background)

Saskatoon's Slogan is Saskatoon Shines; Yes we can; and Yes We Did

Earth Hour: Not in a Hundred Years

If it was really about saving humanity, they'd be focused on adaptation, not running a massive industry based on half-truth, no-truths, and outright skulduggery:

Just let me finish and say this. If the world as a whole cut all emissions tomorrow the average temperature of the planet is not going to drop in several hundred years, perhaps as much as a thousand years because the system is overburdened with CO2 that has to be absorbed and that only happens slowly.

You know what to do!

Political Leaderhship Campaign 2011

There are any number of reasons why our betters didn't want this election, but one over-arching reason keeps rising to the surface like an indomitable lump of guano ... this could very well be the last election campaign for Mr. Layton, Mr. Ignatieff, and, Mr. Harper.

If Mr. Ignatieff can't manage to overcome the massive deficit his party holds in the polls ... it's back to Harvard for the lad.

If Mr. Layton doesn't experience some sort of marvelous recovery from his physical ills ... he'll be leaving politics after this latest battle.

If Mr. Harper fails to get a majority,he will, step down ... either that or civil war will explode within the CPC.

Rex Murphy, having already shown utter displeasure with the current crop of politicians who infest The House, takes the sanguine view that no matter what happens ... this election will provide a much needed flushing of the system ... consider it a long overdue enema:

Well, the majestic stewards of our glorious destiny — by which I mean the Ottawa politicians — have got the election horse to water; and I do believe the old nag is actually going to drink. A Canadian election — unwanted, unwarranted and unwelcome — is almost certainly upon us.

Elections change things; and while this one may not change the partisan composition of the House of Commons, the odds of another Harper minority are good. This result would change, and change for good, the cast of characters who have become as familiar to us and as loveable as the Jersey Shore crowd — at the top of every party in Ottawa.

Tis is a leadership election in every sense of that phrase. Stephen Harper survives only if he wins, finally, the majority that has stayed out of his grasp since his 2006 victory over Paul Martin. If the result is yet another fractious minority, Mr. Harper can hang in for another year or two, but the Conservatives — already a little thin on the imperious Mr. Harper — will be looking for someone to lead them — someone less brittle, less polarizing and maybe someone who can smile in public without giving the impression he’s doing so while reading a ransom note.

For disgruntled Conservatives like me, the flushing will come with much satisfaction. If Mr. Harper gets a majority we'll find out once and for all if he is indeed a conservative, or just another big government Tory ... more "progressive" than anything else. So far, that's been the deal, as Mr. Harper has shed just about every vestige of his former self ... reading his speeches from Pre-PM days makes one ache ... makes one wonder ... who stole Mr. Harper.

To be fair, he has been shackled by minority government realities and by a character that is ... how can we put it delicately ... drab. It's tough to sell conservative ideals to cautious centrists when you've got the charisma of an amoeba ... but fortunately his competitors have equally as icky public characteristics ... one, all the gloss of a wet muskrat (and appearance too), the other the ear-drum splitting attraction of a yapping poodle.

What this means is that the coming election will either be an election fought over ideas ... or simply a food fight. Given that all of Canada's main political parties are now "big government." parties ... I'm betting on the food fight.

Terence Corcoran writes a thoughtful piece for the Financial Post, in which he considers that there is, No Harper Nation:

Shortly after his government’s defeat, Prime Minister Stephen Harper attempted to deflect focus back to Tuesday’s budget. The economy, he said, is the number one priority of Canadians and the budget was the key to the country’s economic future. Then he said: “There was nothing in the budget that the opposition could not or should not have supported.” True enough — but what does that say to Canada’s conservatives? Based on the budget, they are now called on to support a Conservative party that has presided over an extravagant full-scale national revival of big government by fiscal expansion.

Earth Hour: Come into the Light

... and celebrate human achievement.

Charles Adler lays out the reality. Here are his main points:

1. The Very Premise of Earth Hour is Based on a Lie

2. Earth Hour Doesn’t Achieve its Intended Effect (Energy Reduction)

3. Sponsor Hypocrisy

... read the whole thing.

Earth Hour! You know what to do.

A Most Excellent Libyan Adventure

In which Victor Davis Hanson contemplates the possible "real" reasons behind the adventure ... and considers the logical unknowns:

Next, all talk of humanitarian idealism aside, national self-interest is the key determinant of NATO and Arab League participation. Back in 2003, the French weren’t so keen for the much more difficult and costly task of getting rid of Saddam Hussein and “the murderous madness” of his regime, one whose toll of torture, murder, and terrorism vastly outstripped the grisly record of Muammar Gaddafi. Too many French leaders had profited too long from their cozy friendship with the Butcher of Baghdad, buying his oil and selling him advanced weaponry. But now the French have calculated that they can obtain some international prestige on the cheap, given that the US will once again carry most of the load and in the end take most of the blame if things go south. As for the Arab League, their true intentions have become obvious from League spokesman Amr Moussa’s condemnation of the airstrikes because they have “led to the deaths and injuries of many Libyan civilians,” parroting Gaddafi’s propaganda. Apparently what the Arab League supported was the appearance of action without its necessary consequences. And it takes considerable cheek for regimes that brutalize their own people on a regular basis to call for the removal of Gaddafi because he brutalizes his own people.

In further reading, the good doctor examines the so-called coalition:

True, it took three weeks to put this together, during which time Moammar Gaddafi went from besieged, delusional (remember those youthful protesters on “hallucinogenic pills”) thug losing support by the hour — to resurgent tyrant who marshaled his forces, marched them to the gates of Benghazi and had the U.S. director of national intelligence predicting that “the regime will prevail.”

But what is military initiative and opportunity compared with paper

What will the new Libya look like ... ask Mr. al-Hasidi:

Mr al-Hasidi admitted he had earlier fought against "the foreign invasion" in Afghanistan, before being "captured in 2002 in Peshwar, in Pakistan". He was later handed over to the US, and then held in Libya before being released in 2008.

US and British government sources said Mr al-Hasidi was a member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, or LIFG, which killed dozens of Libyan troops in guerrilla attacks around Derna and Benghazi in 1995 and 1996.

To be fair, we should also consider what President Obama has had to say because he does speak for the coalition and he makes some very good points ... video.

Another Gurkha Carves Them Up

A while back we posted about the amazing heroism of a Gurkha soldier in India, where he took on a horde (literally) of bandits and saved a girl from rape.

Now, we hear of another Gurkha warrior, who faced down a squad of Taliban:

Recalling the incident, he said: "As soon as it was confirmed [they were] Taliban, I was really scared.

"But as soon as I opened fire that was gone - [I thought] 'Before they kill me I have to kill some."

"I thought they were going to kill me after a couple of minutes, definitely."

She Turned Out to Protest Middle East Tyranny ...

... and all she got was a virginity test:

Women arrested by the Egyptian police during protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square were subjected to forced 'virginity tests', according to Amnesty International.

Eighteen demonstrators were detained after army officers cleared the square on March 9 at the end of weeks of protest.

Amnesty today said that the women had been beaten, given electric shocks and then subjected to strip searches while being photographed by male soldiers.

Blindly supporting rebellion in the Middle East is a fool's game. It was such when the Sha of Iran was deposed, and it is such today. Let's not forget that in Iraq it took the blood of thousands of American soldiers, and many more thousands of Iraqi patriots to just barely squeak out a victory for liberal democracy (relatively speaking). It is naive ... nay brainless, to think that liberty-minded democracies will spring up and flourish in the Middle East simply because tyrants get overthrown.  All the money and willingness to use savagery rests with ultra-Islamists ... and with that they will win unless the West is willing to become fully engaged in supporting more liberal-minded democratic forces.

And, we all know, that ain't going to happen.

Introducing General Charles Bouchard

... the new Canadian head of the Libya adventure:

Canadian general Charles Bouchard is taking over command of NATO's military operations in Libya.

The Much Needed Election

I get such a kick out of those who crow about the so called unnecessary election, especially when that crowing comes from political partisans. It's hard to imagine ... nay it's inconceivable that these same partisans would be crowing thus were their team holding a strong "majority territory" lead in the polls.

Personally, I can't wait for the coming election. I'll be holding my nose and voting for the center-left CPC, simply in the hope that Mr. Harper can squeak out a majority and prove once and for all that he still has a molecule or two of "conservative" in him.

What is "conservative" you may ask? Why, smaller less intrusive government, I answer ... a government that slowly dismantles the enormous "progressive" regime that is Canada's government. A Tory majority will force Mr. Harper's hand ... either he'll prove to the base that he was forced to expand the vast "progressive" regime because of minority government realities or he'll continue down the same path and prove that his true "hidden agenda" was to push conservatives and socialists to the fringes all along, whereby he would take the "Paul Martin" middle.  If Mr. Harper gets his majority, and if, he continues to expand "progressia", it'll be interesting to watch his supporters turn themselves into even greater pretzels trying to explain that one away ... they're looking pretty contorted already.

On the other hand, an election loss for Mr. Harper, that is a failure to get a majority against the 2nd worst LPC leader ever fielded, will spell the end of party Détente. Mr. Harper, if he chooses to stay on, would simply be triggering an internal war. Already, polls have delivered the shocking news that the conservative base trusts the Government far less today, than it did a year ago. I'm one of those, and I'm clearly not alone. Among my hardcore Tory friends there is much grumbling, and Tories should be especially concerned when some of their most thoughtful and intellectual supporters are recoiling in disgust.

An election will also trigger renewal in the LPC and NDP, where leadership races are in the wind. What Tories should fear most is the inevitable LPC leadership race. If the LPC manage to find a leader with some imagination and personal charisma, then the CPC are doomed. If Mr. Harper can't crush the LPC and win a significant majority against the icky Iggy, then imagine his fortunes against a skilled leader ... someone the "progressive" media actually rallies to and someone whom the middle can embrace.

So, let the election come ... renewal is needed.

For more reading, check out Jay's latest, where he gives us a blunt and humorous take:

A horse race, brilliant policy discussions, ex-hookers, scandal, spending promises, more spending promises, sleeze, the blue sweater, Iggy at Timmy’s, poor Jack Layton.

CPC MPs will go off message, Justin Trudeau will try to look more like Pierre than Margaret, signs will mar the landscape, Oak Bay may lose its very good mayor.

Climate change will not be mentioned. The CPC will demand that Lizzie be included in the Leaders’ debate. The BQ will take lots of Quebec seats from the CPC and the Libs.

The edge of my seat will be worn away.

What We Are Reading

A Broke Ontario Makes Us All Paupers

Tasha:

Quick: what have-not province is facing down a $17,000 per capita debt, spending 10 cents on the dollar on interest payments, and risking a downgrading of its credit rating?

If you automatically replied “Quebec”, guess again. It’s… Ontario.

From economic engine to fiscal basket case, Ontario has come a long way under the tenure of Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government. True, the Progressive Conservative administration of Ernie Eves left a pool of red ink to mop up, but once that was done, the Liberals just couldn’t stop spending… and spending… and spending. Since taking office in 2003, program expenditures have soared by 90.5%, well beyond the rate of inflation and population growth.

Harder Line

Massive NATO Airstrikes Hit Syria

... as if:

He said at least 20 bodies were brought to Daraa National Hospital, and seven others taken to hospitals in neighbouring areas. In the early evening, people from the nearby villages of Inkhil, Khirbet Ghazale and al-Harrah tried to march on Daraa but security forces opened fire and hit them with rifle butts as they approached. The resident said seven more were killed in that shooting. Hundreds were wounded, he said.

Previous

Earth Hour 2011: You Know What to Do

What's Worse Than the Japan Tsunami?

17 cm of sea rise over a century, of course:

“In the 20th century, sea-level rise was recorded at an average of 17 centimetres. If the sea-level was significantly lower, clearly the same tsunami would have had a less devastating effect. Therefore, sea-level rise is a kind of multiplier of the kinds of threats and negative impacts that will take place anyway,”

Meet Hideaki Akaiwa

... a story of outstanding heroism:

Surrounded by incredible hazards on all sides, ranging from obscene currents capable of dislodging houses from their moorings, sharp twisted metal that could easily have punctured his oxygen line (at best) or impaled him (at worst), and with giant fucking cars careening through the water like toys, he pressed on. Past broken glass, past destroyed houses, past downed power lines arcing with electrical current, through undertow that could have dragged him out to sea never to be heard from again, he searched.

Hideaki maintained his composure and navigated his way through the submerged city, finally tracking down his old house. He quickly swam through to find his totally-freaked-out wife, alone and stranded on the upper level of their house, barely keeping her head above water. He grabbed her tight, and presumably sharing his rebreather with her, dragged her out of the wreckage to safety. She survived.

A Colossal Waste of Money

In the back and forth about the proposed purchase of the F-35, Canadians can be excused for not being able to form an informed opinion. The MSM, being what is, offers little in analysis, and the politicians who are in a war of words, offer little but ultra-simplistic polemics. And the military ... well, for the most part, it is bound to keeping its opinions to itself.

I've finally formed a view after listening to the back and forth. The F-35 is a colossal waste of money for two reasons ... reason two depending on reason one.

1) It is hard to conceive of a circumstance where Canada would use the stealth capabilities of the F-35. Canadian politicians do not have the political will to use any Canuck fighter-bombers in a first-strike situation. Most of the bells and whistles that make the F-35 what it is, are precisely what is needed "before" air superiority is established. It is beyond me to comprehend a situation where our political class would use Canadian forces thus, without the vast supporting network that America would bring to the fight.

2) There are a number of alternatives to the F-35 which would be a step up for our Air Force. First to spring to mind is the stealthier version of the F-15, the F-15SE, which is still one of the premier fighters on the planet and comes with a tried and true reputation. Not only that, but the F-15 is one of the most versatile platforms ever built, with the F-15SE offering both long range interdiction capability and tactical air support capability.

Nevertheless, it turns out the Harper PMO can't even get it's numbers right at this time, with inter-government pot-shots being traded:

The battle over the cost of the Harper government's stealth fighter has escalated into a war of numbers between the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the Defence Department.

Kevin Page today released a rebuttal to senior defence officials, who questioned the math in his latest report, which says the cost of the F-35 Lightning II could reach $30 billion over three decades.

Last week, an assistant deputy minister at the Defence Department said the budget officer made a "mathematical error" in calculating the unit cost of the planes, and that estimates on long-term maintenance were erroneous as well.

The F-35 program in the U.S. has seen huge cost overruns, which Page says will drive up the price tag from an estimated US $75 million to US $148 million for each plane.

The department dismisses the figure, but Page pointed out today the Pentagon's latest estimate is US $151 million and that Washington does not sell aircraft to allies at a price less than what it pays.

The jet-fighter deal is expected to be a big issue in the expected spring election because the Liberals have promised to cancel it.

... and of course for me, a believer in a stronger Canadian Forces, the spending of billions on jets ($148 million a pop) whose capability we will never need is like salt in a wound ... given the recent proposed cuts to the CF. Perhaps if the F-35 was part of a complete modernization of the CF the purchase would make more sense ... fully modernizing the CF ... silly me, what am I thinking?

Lessons for Tyrants?

Here's an interesting take on the Libya adventure. I'm unconvinced by any arguments (for or against) so far:

The one success of the Bush Doctrine in terms of coaxing a response in terms of state behavior was Libya. That state long associated with terrorism in the US consciousness, that international pariah with the oddball leader not named Kim, it would be the one to be scared straight and give up its nuclear program. It would be the one to renounce terror as a political tool, and it would be rewarded for its changed ways by the US with improved relations.

One could argue that Gaddafi’s motivation in the above was to avoid US military action against him like that which had been aimed at Saddam Hussein and that had been publicly speculated about in regards to Iran.

And yet, here we are.

... the details.

So, what is the lesson for the thugs and Islamists in the ME ... is it to get WMD as fast as possible, or to behave?

Budget Cuts ...

... let the military pay:

The Defence Department may not be heading back into the old decade of budget darkness, but it could be in for a time of twilight.

The military will make it home from the war in Afghanistan just in time to take a lead role in the battle against the federal deficit.

Figures released in Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's budget on Tuesday show he's relying on the Defence Department to rein in spending sharply.

He expects Defence to account for up to 26 per cent of the federal government's anticipated $2 billion in spending cuts next year.

... the longer we hold a minority government, the more liberal-minded the CPC get. As always, the Canadian military will get stomped by politicos pandering for votes, because in Canada, you can neglect the military without losing votes, as long as you dish out lots of defense contracts. Canada already spends a very small portion of GDP on its military compared to its NATO allies. Furthermore, considering that Canada has one of the strongest economies in the G20, any cuts to the military are reprehensible ... but then, what can one expect from a center-left Minority Government.

I feel ashamed, especially in light of the Harper PMO's record in trying to stiff our wounded heroes.  Once again, Canada defers to American tax payers to provide security and logistics in case of war or calamity.

God Bless America.

Canada has a Doctor Shortage

... so let's sell medical school spots to the Saudis:

In an urgent bid to plug a hole in its budget, Dalhousie University’s medical school will sell 10 vacant first-year seats to students from Saudi Arabia for $75,000 annually.

Dalhousie’s medical dean, Tom Marrie, says a reduction in provincial grants last year left the program underfunded, and that generating money from empty spaces is crucial to balancing the books.

Julian Fantino's Legacy

... means grovelling before terrorists:

In the discovery for the Brown/Chatwell lawsuit, Superintendent John Cain, the OPP’s major incident commander in overall charge of DCE from March, testified that this information [presence of "extreme activists" on Douglas Creek Estates occupation site] came from [Superintendent Ron] George in early April [2006]. Cain also said that, in his view, “extreme activists” meant Mohawk Warriors, whom he described as being akin to Hells Angels in that the Warriors deploy themselves in a quasi-military manner and, as he succinctly put it, they “use guns, have guns.”

[...]

Military officials are still finalizing the wording of the apology to the society, which was included in the draft counter-insurgency manual. The apology is expected in January or February. A spokesman for the Canadian Forces has called the apology important, and said it will be heartfelt. “We want to make sure that it’s [the apology] delivered in a proper format with a proper amount of respect and from the proper level,” Maj. Martell Thompson told CBC News.

The Law is an Ass

... especially when even the Mosque knows better:

"The mosque believes wholeheartedly in the Koran and its teachings," Thanasides said Monday. "They certainly follow Islamic law in connection with their spiritual endeavors. But with respect to secular endeavors, they believe Florida law should apply in Florida courts."

That Flushing Sound You Hear

... may be a Canadian election:

And so we move closer to an election, each party and its partisans convinced that they have the only policies that matter to the country and each party convinced that it will do better this time around. Fortunately, voters have a way of inflicting reality on our politicians and their political staff. Elections rarely go as planned and in some cases they can produce bruising results. Who would have thought that Joe Clark would beat Pierre Trudeau or the Tories only win two seats in 1993? Whatever the result of this coming election, there will be changes to our political landscape. For one thing, who will remain as leader of their party and for how long?

Imagine an election, then imagine that the results come out close to what we have today. Then ask yourself, which leader will remain leader for long?

... Sea-change comes to mind.

Pat Martin and the Bev Oda Onslaught

I've made my feelings about Bev Oda abundantly clear ... that she mislead a committee in the way she related events. After the usual gnashing of teeth by the opposition, she came clean, but not until an actual hearing was called did she do what should have been done all along ... apologize clearly and concisely.

But now, let's turn to the behaviour of one, Pat Martin, NDP hack from Manitoba. To set the context, let's remind ourselves that after all the chest thumping the opposition got what it wanted; a hearing in which Oda would have to face her peers and explain her actions. Not only that, but a hearing in which the competency of Oda and her motives would come under fire. (something that could have been avoided had Oda done the right thing in the first place).

So, there sat Mr. Martin, facing off against a contrite Oda, and what does he do? He launches into an arrogant blistering brow beating of Oda ... one fit for ... well I'm not sure what. The peacock, in all his puffed up socialist arrogance turned a political win, into a political loss.  He came off as an out-of control inquisitor ... not a parliamentarian.

I'm not as upset though, by Martin's bellicosity as are some of my fellow Tories, for I know full well that were Pat Martin a Tory castigating a Liberal for just about anything, they'd be shrieking with delight. Such is the nature of partisan politics though ... much like the pleasure one gets when a hockey player from your team crushes an opponent with a heavy body check ... but when your player gets crushed you scream at the referee for not giving a penalty. One's own team can do no harm.

But I digress ... the point is that I'm surprised that the NDP would've considered Martin's attack a good strategy ... for that's all it was, a planned event to demonstrate how righteous the NDP are ... how utterly offended and hurt by the "odious" Oda. I'm left wondering what the NDP have for brains ... that some operative somewhere actually thought that a classless drubbing of Oda would score points in a country already sick of the hacks that govern us.

To Bomb or Not to Bomb

I've been reading the pros and cons of involvement in Libya, and have been watching as things escalate in Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia ... and even in Iran.

For the life of me I can't determine from any source exactly who or what is at the root of the uprisings. Sure, all Muslim states, including Iraq, have police services that are anywhere from excessive to brutal in their repression of crime and dissent, but one look at the make-up of most "rebel" mobs and one gets the distinct feeling that if the rebels win, they’ll simply alter who is getting savaged. The stones pelting protesting Egyptian women are just as likely to turn to fists and penises in the “new” Egypt.

In other words, it just may be a matter of one barbarian seizing power from another. Already, for example, Egyptian pressure on Copts seems to be increasing, not decreasing. Imagine how ironic it will be, if our involvement in Libya assists in the turning of Libya into an Iran-like guano-hole where oppression simply shifts focus. Western intelligence in the Middle East has proven woefully inadequate again and again, from WMDs in Iraq (where there were none) to WMDs in Libya (where there were lots), so knowing what is going on and what the most possible outcomes might be is a matter of wild guessing. I suspect that the chatter among old-timers at Tim Hortons is as knowledgeable as what passes for chatter among bureaucrats in “the know”.

Or, are we witnessing a true Arab spring, where the thirst for liberty will overcome the more base forces of Islamic barbarism?

I'm not holding my breath on any account, especially since I get the feeling that neither Canada nor her allies have a clue as to what they are triggering ... only that they had to act, somehow, or become completely irrelevant. In the new Middle East, bombing the Crazy Colonel may simply be a desperate attempt by Western nations to cling to some degree of leverage over Middle Eastern states. (behave or we bomb your ass)

No wonder Obama is trying to pawn off leadership of the Libya endeavour to someone else ... who wants to be part of what may have been triggered by "Allied" action ... a civil war the brutality of which we haven't witnessed for a long time, or change that only fanatical Muslims can believe in.

It is possible that an Arab Spring will bring about more freedoms, less oppression, and less Islamic fundamentalism, as in Iraq ... but let's never forget that in Iraq it was the blood of thousands of American soldiers holding back the Islamic fanatics that convinced Iraqis to embrace a level of liberty unheard of among their neighbours.  Who’s going to be there in Libya, or Egypt, or Bahrain, to hold back those same forces? Syrian and Iranian thugs must be chuckling in their beards.

Radiation ...

... the chart that says it all.

Next Generation Engine ?

Wave Disk Generator:

It is 5 times more efficient than conventional automobile internal combustion engines, and 3.5 times more efficient than hybrid automobile engines. It reduces auto emissions up to 90 percent, because the engine uses 60 percent of its fuel for propulsion, compared to a typical car engine that uses only 15 percent of fuel for propulsion. It does not have pistons, crankshafts, valves, or a transmission system, cooling system, emissions regulation or fluids reducing costs of the engine system 30% and maintenance costs. And, it can operate on natural gas, gasoline, hydrogen and other fuels.

Libya: The Tool Box

France has some 20 fighter jets deployed in an initial operation in Libya, including Rafale multirole war planes, Mirage fighter jets and at least one AWACS surveillance aircraft. The target area involved is a area 62 by 93 miles around the rebel-controlled city of Benghazi.

The French operation is being run out of the Solenzara air base in the Mediterranean island of Corsica, around an hour's flight from Libya in a fighter jet.

... keep reading for what each player is bringing to the fight.

Update ...

Rex: Japanese Dignity

The Bed Bug Infestation

Image: Bug Bitten

The bugs ... coming to a bedroom near you:

Today, bed bugs are making a comeback...big time.

In the mid to late 90’s, bed bugs began appearing more and more in hotels and motels, even premium ones, and in apartments, single-family homes, nursing homes, and hospitals. Lately, bed bugs have become national news, with media exposés on bed bug attacks in five star hotels.

There has been a clear and major resurgence of bed bugs throughout much of the world. The increase has been documented for the United States, Canada, Australia, parts of Europe, and parts of Africa.

The question is, why?

The registry. (incomplete but a good start)

The Stigma.

Even Steven Smollens, a housing lawyer who has helped many tenants with bedbugs, has his guard up. Those clients are barred from his office. “I meet outside,” he said. “There’s a Starbucks across the street.”

DDT:

Nearly thirty years after phasing out the widespread use of indoor spraying with DDT and other insecticides to control malaria, the World Health Organization (WHO) today announced that this intervention will once again play a major role in its efforts to fight the disease. WHO is now recommending the use of indoor residual spraying (IRS) not only in epidemic areas but also in areas with constant and high malaria transmission, including throughout Africa.

Air Travel:

British Airways has had to ground two jumbo jets after one passenger has complained of being badly bitten by bed bugs. One of the aircraft concerned had to be fumigated after it was confirmed that there was a bed bug infestation on board.

What We Are Reading

Epiphany

In which Huffpo has it's fill:

That tone of extreme hostility I experienced brings me back to the death threats in Wisconsin. Frankly, the bile and invective in that threat reminded me of the tone I saw directed at me from many so-called liberals because I committed the heresy of taking a different position from them on the issue of collective bargaining for public sector employees... based on something FDR said.

Is this really what liberalism has come to in 2011?

Now That Wasn't So Hard ...

... was it:

Speaking before the committee, Oda apologized for what she described as confusion in her prior explanation about the way she handled a decision to turn down $7 million in funding for Kairos.

Just think what a little bit of humble-pie would've accomplished earlier on ... but in Ottawa, humility and openness are considered anathema to the hacks.

Ask most Canadians though, and they'd say ... "What's an Oda?"  For Mr. Harper, ignorance, disconnection, and cynicism among Canadians are gold.

Yes We Can

... but we won't:

INEFFECTUAL, invisible, unable to honour pledges and now blamed for letting Gaddafi off the hook. Why Obama’s gone from ‘Yes we can’ to ‘Er, maybe we shouldn’t’...

[...]

Obama’s campaign slogan was mesmerisingly simple and brimming with self-belief: “Yes we can.” His presidency, however, is turning out to be more about “no we won’t.” Even more worryingly, it seems to be very much about: “Maybe we can… do what, exactly?“

Finally: Japanese Nuke Crisis Explained

... poo and all.

That Was Easy

Libya declared an immediate ceasefire Friday following a decision by the United Nations one day earlier to impose a no-fly zone over the country and to authorize the use of military force.

... too bad that Western nations, including Canada, couldn't their poop in a group faster.

In other news, Canada sends Hornets.

Lost credibility.

Progressive Psychopathy

A recent spate of events have drawn my attention to the “progressive” justice system. One is the recent release from jail of the child-killer, one Christopher Pauchay. (I detail his crime here) The other is the tale of repeat offender Harry Samuel Dunsford. What each of these has in common, besides beastly deeds, is that the “progressive” justice system has offered society anything but, justice.

When it comes to crime and punishment, I often wonder what kind of pseudo-psychopathy “progressives” live in. From academics to politicians to activists to bureaucrats, they exist in a world that has little to do with reality, and which foists on the citizenry a criminal element that is allowed to offend again and again.

Take for example the experience of an acquaintance of mine (name withheld for obvious reasons). He used to be a provincial social worker; one of his jobs was to write pre-disposition reports for the courts, where he advised the courts on how to wrist-slap young offenders. He also monitored his “clients”, ensuring they were living up to court imposed conditions. Here’s the clincher ... in his entire career he witnessed the “turning around” of only two offenders. One he managed to effect, and the other was the product of a persistent mother.

Another example I offer is that of a Saskatchewan Crown Prosecutor who appeared on talk radio a number of years ago. The radio host interviewed him, and through that interview the prosecutor made it clear that the object of the criminal justice system, nay, his purpose, was to restore criminals and avoid incarcerating them because, as he stated, “jail doesn’t work!”

Take another example I’m familiar with. A female was once held at knife-point at her workplace. During her captivity she repeatedly came in intimate contact with the assailant and his knife, with deadly threats being uttered in her ear. She was not killed, injured, nor raped. Yet, she suffered irreparable post-traumatic stress which has rendered her incapable of functioning normally to this day ... and will so for the rest of her life. One need only read the book, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, by Dave Grossman, to realize that this woman suffered an event that in most cases would cause life-long psychological damage. Her assailant was never caught, which makes the situation worse, but let’s assume that he were. The “progressive” system would consider that the victim wasn’t killed nor harmed in any physical way, and she wasn’t even robbed ... the business was. It’d be a stretch to imagine this thug getting any serious jail time unless he already had a laundrey list of evil under his name, but it'd be no stretch to imagine him out in due course for “time served” plus good behavior. He’d be out soon enough, to do more harm to society, while the victim struggled through the rest of her life. (she has constant nightmares of his eyes) The “progressive” justice system though, would congratulate itself for a job well done.

The point is that most little thugs grow up to become big thugs ... some going on to be murderous and violent criminals. Each has passed through the “progressive” justice system where “restoration” of the criminal, not reparation or protection of society, drives the “progressive” machinery.

I started out by mentioning the pseudo-psychopathic state of mind that “progressives” live in. Wiki describes Psychopathy as a personality disorder characterized by an abnormal lack of empathy combined with strongly amoral conduct but masked by an ability to appear outwardly normal.

Let’s consider what “progressive” justice does in real world terms. It takes criminals, imposes on them often trivial consequences, and in so doing puts innocent citizens at risk the moment these criminals re-enter society. The emphasis is not on the protection of society, but rather the restoration of the criminal and imposition of the absolutely minimum possible sanctions in order to achieve “restoration”. “Empathy” is lavished on the criminal, seldom on the victim, and virtually never on society as a whole. If, in fact, the empathy were to be directed toward society, incarceration times would be severe and would serve only one function; to lock criminals away where they can do no harm to innocents.

So it is, that “progressives” behave like psychopaths whereby they have little empathy for the millions of victims of crime, and whereby they mask this amoral conduct with self-righteous proclamations and philosophies that appear to show concern for society ... when in reality the actions of the “progressive” justice system and its vast supporting cast bend over backwards to “restore” criminal but offer little to victims or society. In fact, often the “progressive” class casts blame not on the criminal, but on society or even the victim.

Perhaps psychologists should define a new mental disorder ... calling it “Progressive Psychopathy”. It sounds about right to me, but then some psychologists I know would have to diagnose themselves as suffering from PP, so I'm not holding my breath.

Julian Fantino's Legacy

In which Julian Fantino has a pout, and The Gods respond:

The entry of Julian Fantino into the House of Commons is an open moral crime. This is man who should have been cashiered from his post as Commissioner. Who should today be facing a parliamentary inquiry for his inactions in Caledonia, yet is hailed by even the Toronto Star as "one tough cop." When real toughness was required he was anything but. These are facts. We would not let a bankrupt become Minister of Finance. We would never allow a felon to be made Attorney General. Why is a police officer who did not discharge his duty, when conscience and law obliged him to do so, sitting in the federal cabinet?

Tragedy in Pictures

Outstanding photo journal at NYT; updated daily.

(this is where big media shines)

Hamlet - in - Chief

More than 400 years ago, William Shakespeare wrote a riveting tragedy about a young, charismatic Danish prince who vowed to do the right thing in avenging his murdered father. That soon proved easier said than done. As a result, Hamlet couldn’t quite ever act in time — given all the ambiguities that such a sensitive prince first had to sort out. In the meantime, a lot of bodies piled up through his indecision and hesitancy.

VDH

Behold the Peace of Islam

To Muslim purists, there is no other law but sharia:

Qamar David, a Pakistani Christian serving a life sentence for blasphemy against Islam, was found dead in his Karachi jail cell yesterday. David, in prison since 2002, was sentenced for allegedly sending derogatory text messages about the Prophet Mohammad, though his lawyer maintains that the charges were motivated by a business rivalry. He was 55 years old and the father of four sons.

Authorities report that he died of a heart attack, but it is widely suspected that he was murdered by radical Muslims who, in recent months, have sought by violent means to defend Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws.

Blunt

... things to chew on:

So if I were to point out anything to Mr. Hilliard, it would be that I'm making my criticisms from the right of the people I attack rather than the left. The difference is that I learned a long time ago to distrust the simplistic and dishonest talking points of all politicians and lobbies, not just the liberal ones. The right has gotten awfully good at lying about serious things and their base simply often invents policy positions that their politicians never held. Rob Ford, for example, promised to cut nickles and his supporters took that to mean dollars. And it just isn't so.

Most of my readership intuitively knows that the left is wrong already, but I'm not sure that they know that of what passes for the right these days. You sure as hell don't read it in most blogs or hear about it in the circle jerk that is Fox News or Sun Media. Honesty and seriousness used to be conservative values, but that was a long time ago.

Lying and pandering to the retard base isn't going to accomplish a goddamned thing. And not only am I not going to do it, I'm going to call out anyone who is. Fuck 'em.

ht

BoyLover.net

... taken down:

The members of the network went into a private channel, boylover.net, and then used its secret systems to share films and images of abused children, said Rob Wainwright, director of European police agency Europol.

However, child abuse investigators, including a team from Ceop, had already infiltrated the network and were posing as paedophiles to gather intelligence.

In the UK, the 240 suspects included police officers, teachers and youth leaders.

No-Fly: Canada Defers to the UN

Let the slaughter begin:

The UN Security Council is the proper place to decide on action against Libya, Canada said Tuesday as G8 countries refused to support a no-fly zone proposed by France and Britain.

"It's clear that there is a need to provide a response through the UN Security Council, a response that will be effective diplomatically, involving the Arab League and other partners," Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said as G8 foreign ministers wrapped a two-day meeting in Paris.

The carnage in Libya dominated the two days of discussion, but host France was unable to marshal support for the no-fly proposal. Along with Britain, France proposed the intervention to halt the advance of Moammar Gadhafi's forces, which are winning back territory with tanks, warships and artillery from badly-outgunned rebel forces.

Venus You Say ... Looks More Like Mars to Me

What should alarm the warmingista’s is the 600mb level temps which are near record lows like they were in 2008 as the last Nina raged

[...]

Why is this alarming? Because the PDO has turned cold, thats why. The response to warming from el ninos when the PDO was warm, for example the nino of 02-03, had nothing this cold coming in back of it in the troposphere. This is 2 harsh responses in a row. In addition I didnt hear anyone last year at this time speculating that there would be this big a deep level response.. and certainly not the folks that want to convince you and me we are are going to burn up in a Venutian nightmare.

... for more, go to Joe.

IPCC ... A Child of Activists

Donna writes:

The foreword to this document, which focused on New Zealand, was written by none other than Rajendra Pachauri. At the end of his remarks, beside his photograph, he is identified not as a private individual expressing private opinions but as the chairman of the IPCC.

I’ve mentioned previously that the fact that Richard Klein worked as a Greenpeace campaigner at age 23 was no impediment to the IPCC appointing him a lead author at age 25. I’ve also drawn attention to the fact that some of those who’ve served as IPCC expert reviewers are actually Greenpeace employees.

Update: Retraction?

The Games They Play

... to keep the game alive:

In my opinion, locating the earliest known example of “hide the decline’ in Jones et al 1999 (Rev Geophys) places hide the decline in a remarkable new light. I think that it’s fair to say that most of us have assumed that “hide the decline” originated with Mann or Briffa. However, it seems to me that this new evidence suggests that the lead author of Jones et al 1999, Phil Jones himself, may have been responsible for CRU’s decision to hide the decline in the spaghetti graph comparisons – initially Jones et al 1999 Figure 6, later, as we all know, IPCC TAR Fig 2.20.

Mr. Harper: What Have You Become?

A day after Justin Trudeau handed the CPC political gold in his ill-conceived objection that the Harper government used the term "barbaric" when referring to honour-killing, the Prime Minister himself delivers one the most petty, dirty-opportunistic, low, and stupid comments to come from any politico in a long time.

Today Mr. Harper invoked the tragedy of the Japanese Earthquake to bludgeon the opposition with a call to avoid an election. 

To invoke the impact of the suffering of the Japanese people and the resultant shaken international psyche in order to avoid an election that Mr. Harper knows he can't win a majority in, is beyond insufferable.  Were Mr. Harper in opposition, and the Liberal leader to pull a stunt like this, he and all of Tory-land would be justifiably howling in protest.  What's even more disturbing, is that I'm willing to bet that so blinded by partisanship are some Tory supporters that they will see nothing wrong in what Mr. Harper has done.

I contemplate the enormous challenges facing humanity across this earth, from Middle Eastern turmoil to the suffering in Japan and Haiti ... and even the economic upheaval facing America; then I cast my gaze back home at what passes for discourse among Canada's political class and all I can think is ... how low we have fallen:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the massive earthquake that has devastated northeastern Japan should make his political opponents think twice about forcing an election.

The quake and resulting tsunami have prompted fears the disaster could affect economies of not just Japan but also its trading partners, including Canada.

Harper says the global economy is still very fragile, and the earthquake should be a wake-up call that governments can't take their focus away from the economy.

Harper says that makes it all the more important to avoid what he describes as an "opportunistic and unnecessary" election, which he insists nobody is asking for.

There has been feverish election speculation in Ottawa in recent weeks, and the release of the budget next week would provide an opportunity for opposition parties to defeat Harper's government.

Harper says rather than making demands on the government, the opposition parties should instead find a reason to support the budget.

... closing question ... would Mr. Harper be bloviating such were his party in clear majority territory in the polls?

... closing thought ... I pray that CTV misquoted Mr. Harper ... I'd love to have to write a retraction.

Japan and Pets

Hunter makes an interesting observation:

Ms. Kikuchi, her face still red with excitement, said she was so happy to see the dogs, a bit of good news in an otherwise tragic event. "When my father told me they were alive, I was so excited," she said. "It's been so stressful. It's so good to see them"

Mr. Kikuchi and his daughter said they will come back every day to look after the dogs, but they are not going to bring the dogs to the shelter.

"There are lots of people dead and it's too much to ask to bring the dogs," said Mr. Kikuchi. "It would be inconsiderate to other people's sadness."

De-Surging Afghanistan

The top US commander in Afghanistan has said Taliban's momentum has been halted in key areas, keeping the US on course to start withdrawing forces in July.

... BBC.

Regular readers of this blog will recall that we predicted just this, that the massive build-up in Afghansitan was a sea change, that day in day out the Taliban are being plastered in a way they have never before experienced.

The New Melting Pot: Interculturalism

Does "interculturalism" have legs? In Quebec probably. It's respectable cover for dumping Trudeau-era multiculturalism, something which even the son of Pierre seems to be cool with doing. In the ROC it would only be a half-way house. A step to assuage the squeamish before the whole idea of multiculturalism is put into the ashcan of history. The choice that we face is a stark one. Either we are to accept Diefenbaker's ideal of One Canada, or we elect for ourselves the fate of a vast sub-arctic Balkans. Without a common cultural center, this is a house that cannot stand.

Ironic ... ROC saved by Quebec intellectuals ... more from The Gods.

For a bit extra from "The Gods", check out the latest son-of-Trudeau screw-up.  Once again, I can't believe Harper's good fortune to be facing off against such an incompetent oppostion.

Being President is Hard

Japan is suffering from a natural disaster that threatens to turn into an existential crisis. Colonel Q-ball has unleashed a blistering assault on pro-democracy rebel forces. Large swaths of the Middle East are in turmoil. The federal government is bleeding red ink, with absolutely no end in site. The economy sucks and is getting battered by skyrocketing commodity prices and a volatile oil market. Near-record numbers of Americans are leaving the work force. If the world isn’t quite on fire…it is at least approaching a slow burn.

... so, what does the Big O do for messaging? ... golf, continue with the weekly parties at the W.H., and televise his NCAA picks. Sure, he's doing a lot more (we trust), but the messaging is stunningly bad, especially from Mr. "We've all got skin in the game."

Thanks for Nothing ...

Why do they come to Canada in the first place ... if they hate us so?

The Mounties have announced criminal charges against two former Winnipeg residents who they claim travelled to Pakistan to train as terrorists, so they could fight alongside insurgents in Afghanistan.

RCMP Assistant Commissioner Bill Robinson told reporters on Tuesday that a years-long investigation has led to charges against Ferid Ahmed Iman, 30, and Maiwand Yar, 27.

Quake Footage: Escape

More great photos from Mail Online.

Canuckistan: Retreating Into Darkness

"Israeli Apartheid Week" is Canada's gift to the world. It started in Toronto on Bernie ("Nobody knows I'm Jewish") Farber's watch, while he and the other cardboard cavaliers of Canada's "human rights" racket were out chasing phantoms. So, in Farber's boundlessly "tolerant" "diverse" Toronto, a real defender of Israel like Jason Kenney cannot speak at a public university: Celebrate the diversity of the people we ban! Up is down, black is white, "tolerance" is ever more intolerant, "diversity" is stultifying conformity, and the Great White North is retreating into darkness.

... read Steyn.

It's Bend Over Time in Canada

With election noises in the background, Canuck politicos are once again offering bribes:

With a spring election possibly on the horizon, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff announced his party would help fund a hockey arena in Quebec City if elected.

Ignatieff made the announcement in Quebec City, where the Conservative government waffled on helping build a new professional hockey arena, before ultimately deciding not to invest federal taxpayer dollars.

Truly, we are all "progressives" now.

Nagasaki

Photos

... video gives scale:

Doing a Quigley

... in Afghanistan Down Under:

On September 12th, a known Taliban commander appeared on the back of a motorcycle with a passenger riding pillion. There was a British patrol in the village of Gorup-e Shesh Kalay and under the rules of engagement, the walkie-talkie the Taliban pair were carrying was designated a hostile act. As they drove off, Osmond fired warning shots with his pistol and then picked up his L96, the same weapon – serial number 0166 – he had used in Iraq and on the butt of which he had written, ‘I love u 0166’.

Taking deliberate aim, he fired a single shot. The bike tumbled and both men fell onto the road and lay there motionless. When the British patrol returned, they checked the men and confirmed they were both dead, with large holes through their heads.