I have been following the Bali Blog of one Stephane Dion with interest. I mean who wouldn't? The leader of the natural governing party of Canada on the international stage playing to his stated strength. Compelling stuff!
As the Bali conference comes to a close I've decided to share what I learned from the little Professor who could. In no specific order:
1. Being leader of the official opposition in Canada is a great way to fill time and a real hoot!
The job of Opposition Leader is a demanding one – a great time-filler! The tight agenda that comes with the job sometimes leads to comical situations.
2. A sense of humor is relative....you know....kinda like why ten year old boys find fart jokes so fascinating.
Thus the date of December 11, 2007, which marks the 10th anniversary of the Kyoto Protocol, was celebrated here 13 hours before my home time. Standing before the cake that had been prepared to celebrate the occasion, I suddenly felt the pangs of doubt. You see, December 11 is also my wife Janine’s birthday! So had I committed the unforgivable sin of forgetting it or was I 13 hours ahead?
Thankfully, the second hypothesis was the right one and as I cut the Kyoto cake, I promised myself to bring her a gift from Bali and to call her at the end of my day to surprise her at the beginning of HER day.
3. Hypothesis' are nearly as funny as fart jokes.
4. Achieving Achievements is really spiffy.
The achievements that ICLEI’s actions have achieved since its creation in 1990 are impressive.
Chucker Canuck has a nice take on Achieving Achievements. Read it if you haven't already. Other achievements included:
Just spending a full day without having to change clothes is an achievement of sorts.
This brings back memories of my most culinary enthusiastic son as a toddler. A case of more on him than in him.
5. Don't eat the salad.
As everyone knows, a trip to a country as exotic as Indonesia, or Asia in general, necessitates some precautions when it comes time to sit down for a meal.
Here in Bali, the decor is fantastic, and everything in the restaurants looks excellent. I say ‘looks’ because the Health Canada warnings tell us, not just once but twice, to be careful never to eat anything raw, even salads.
With a schedule as full as mine, the opportunities to take the time for a nice, relaxing meal are fairly limited. So what to do when walking into a Japanese restaurant where the sushi and sashimi look so appetizing, or a restaurant where the salads look like works of art?
Some of my friends who work for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have allowed themselves to be tempted. The result? Two days in bed with stomach cramps that make them regret having succumbed to temptation. They call it “Bali Belly”. And when you’re only in Bali for six days...
I suppose that explains the latter half of the previously claimed achievements....at least he didn't shit himself, although one wonders at Stephane's choice of friends.
6. Stephane has hand-eye coordination on the level of the average two year old boy and the star struck adulation of the average thirteen year old girl.
One of the main media attractions of this conference is without a doubt the famous solar taxi that has been ferrying high-profile personalities around the site, including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, and Bianca Jagger, who is a big fan of this Swiss invention, and about whom I will talk more, later in this blog.
First, I’d like to thank Louis Palmer and Thomas Gottschalk, who did exceptional work in developing a totally clean vehicle powered by solar energy.
Having seen the configuration of this vehicle, I preferred being a passenger rather than driving it, so as to avoid any mishaps.
Good thinking Stephane, now staying away from the levers of power might not be a bad idea either eh?
7. Stephane and the Goracle share a passionate nature.
The result of much planning, this meeting proved to be very friendly and Mr. Gore showed himself to be very generous with his time and advice, despite a schedule that we know to be very full. Our passionate nature was a way for us to connect, and to persevere in the pursuit of our common goals.
One word....Creepy.
8. You can sure pick up the babes in Bali with one of them solar rides.
My meeting with the team of inventors of the famous solar taxi allowed me to get a meeting with Bianca Jagger, who has for many years dedicated herself to the cause of protecting the environment. She is currently President of the World Future Council, based in London.
She had asked to meet me in order to find out more about Canada’s position, which she doesn’t share or understand. I talked with her about the Canadian reality and the issues we are facing. Our role in Opposition is to remain vigilant in the face of a government – a minority government, remember – that doesn’t represent in any way the views of Canadians, particularly when it comes to the environment and climate change.
I was surprised by her vast knowledge of environmental issues, but also by the strength of her determination to effect change.
According to Stephane not all the chicks that banged members of the Stones are stone stupid. I would have been surprised also. And as far as speaking for Canadians......well we all know you ain't Canadian if you ain't Liberal.
As the year comes to a close and my work schedule becomes increasingly weather dependent I plan on a greater blogging presence. That said, this nugget I ran across from the Halifax Chronicle Herald has prompted me to post .
The tasty bits:
The Council of Canadians, founded by well-known nationalists such as Maude Barlow and Margaret Atwood, wants to stop the military from recruiting at high schools across the country.
A resolution was passed at the group's annual general meeting Oct. 29 after a young member of the Ontario chapter objected to recruitment visits at his high school.
Cliff White, spokesman for the council in the Atlantic region, said the move is partly in response to Canada's current mission.
Well known nationalists? Don't you really mean well known radical, leftist, pacifist, feminist, agitators? Or does espousing all things leftard automatically qualify one as a nationalist? Hell if that were the case Gilles Duceppe qualifies as a nationalist. But that's not the real point.
The money quote is here:
"The fact that we've moved from peacekeeping to war fighting ... the traditional role of the military has changed."
Cliff are you serious? Tradition only goes as far back as what? Trudeau? Pearson? And speaking of Pearson, our involvement in Afstan is under the auspices of the U.N. Do you have any idea what I'm hinting at? Or do you prefer U.N. mandates of the Somalia variety?
I will apologize in advance for the profanity...but who gives a fuck? The PPG and PMSH have never had a cordial relationship. That said, I fully expect the wags that think they matter will wax poetic on how this "breaks tradition", "is typical of Harpers controlling regime" and of course "shows his disrespect for the press".
Boo fuckin Hoo. The big guy isn't going to your party and you are the cool kids......Shaaa!!!
I was surfing the net today....the good the bad and the ugly.... just because, and I came across this from the David Suzuki Foundation
An environmental friendly primer for you wannabe social activists. Or Enviroganda 101:
Large events such as conferences, sports competitions, concerts, festivals, and conventions can be major sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Electricity, heating and air conditioning, ground transportation, air travel, paper and other materials are just some of the ways that large events contribute to climate change. However, many event organizers are recognizing that large events do not have to have a huge climate impact and, in fact, can play a positive role by becoming low-carbon or even carbon neutral.
Tell me more Dr. Dave.
Recent major events that have taken responsibility for their greenhouse gas emissions include: the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), 2006 FIFA World Cup, 2006 Commonwealth Games, the Dave Matthews Band concert tour, the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, and the 2005 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The environmental leadership demonstrated by these events is helping to transform the event industry, with green initiatives quickly becoming expected.
Whaa? Live Earth is not mentioned? Do I smell a whiff of prophet envy or is it a crack in the enviromafia?
According to Al, "Live Earth" was the be all and end all of raising climate change awareness. How is it that this stellar effort is not on the Suzuki radar?
Was it the fact Dave didn't get any face time with Leanardo? Was it all about Al? You didn't get your cut?
Or was the whole thing a colossal waste of time and energy?
So it seems the the chips have fallen where they may. Outremount is gone, stormed by the NDP hoard. Off the island the Libs have lost their election deposits. Meanwhile, the little academic that could keeps on chugging away.
Desperate times call for desperate measures and the social scientist at the controls appears to have turned up the same metaphorical box canyon as Steve Fossett.
Two days after the plane wreck in Outremont, Stephane Dion's political instincts have led him up a killer slope. The issues he hopes to take flight with.....the release of Omar Khadr from the Guantanamo Bay detention center. Well that and the brilliant assertion that with leadership numbers polling at a solid 15% what Canadians really want is more Dion. And finally, Harper and the Conservatives are women haters.
Only a cloistered academic who's used to eager freshmen kissing his professorial ass could come to this conclusion.
The fact that in Quebec the decades old mafia style protection racket that the LPoC ran was broken by the Gomery Inquiry is of no consequence. The fact that Dion was a cabinet minister under Chretien and Martin and he failed to mention his principles regarding the detention of Omar Kahdr is to be forgotten. The fact that most Canadians view Stephane as a quirky intellectual with all the charm of a dead mackerel matters not a whit. And of course Steven Harper is a women hater.... for non-denominational deity's sake ....he made his wife take his name!!!
So here is what it is Stephane. Just like Steve Fosset you both have won acclaim in specialized fields. The insular world of the theoretical and the highly prepared feats of derring do that Fossett is famous for share one common theme. They are uncommon.
It is the common that kills. Fossett disappeared flying a two-seater, fabric skinned, high performance, tail dragger on a routine flight in ideal weather. My theory....massive heart attack and the ensuing catastrophic wreck ensured the ELT (emergency locater transmitter) was destroyed. Hence no clue as to where his earthly remains are to be found.
In your case the wreck is going to be easy to spot. Unlike Fossett, you have chosen to fly up a box canyon in a piece of equipment that can't out climb the terrain. The only way out is a hard 180 and you are clearly not inclined to turn back.
A little known fact....98.95% of all fatal aircraft accidents happen at or near the ground. Welcome to the real world.
In light of the Liberal disaster that was Outremont there is much speculation about the future leadership of Stephane Dion. In my previous post I noted an interesting question by a self identified lifelong Liberal. How soon could there be another leadership convention?
This morning commentor Blue Liberal left this on the thread:
Blue Liberal said...
Garths leadership is now in full swing. If youd like to know more, call Tony McLaren.
Garths tour out west was not only to bash PM Harper and try to prop up the dying leadership of Dion (making good impressions) but to bolster his leadership chances. The person making the comments about Dion at this town hall was NOT a conincidence, but carefully planned.
He may be a jerk, but hes not stupid.
I tend to agree with Blue and noted earlier that the questions all seemed to be planned. This got me thinking some more about Garth's townhall in Calgary and something odd I noted about the cameraman taping the event.
In my original post I describe how the picture of my cameraman Chris that appears on Garth's blog could only have come from the tape that the pro was shooting. In the same post Garth identifies the cameraman as being from CBC TV.
Then the crowd shouted the guy down. And that was it. The two sat and grumbled for a while. Shot more videotape. But when a CBC television cameraman started mousing around their corner of the room, the ops fled.
Odd I thought. Then I realized that early on in Garth's show he can be heard asking the cameraman (who was just out of the frame of our video) "Your getting this right?" Around the same time the cameraman moves around the room and mounts the stage to shoot from Garth's perspective. Another oddity for a newsman, No?
I figured this might become pertinent later and ask Chris to get a close-up of the camera. Clearly there are no identifying logos that one might expect.
Once again don't take my word for it. Garth Turner Unedited or Your getting this right?
So, was this a newsman shooting news video or a hired gun shooting tape for some future purpose?
Given last nights by election results I wonder.
And finally check out my previous post. The answer Garth gives in defense of Dion could be construed as somewhat "lefthanded".
Much has been said regarding the most recent polls in the Quebec by-elections. Steve Janke of Angry in the Great White North was one of the first to speculate on the possible machinations going on behind the scenes in the LPoC. Some of the most insightful text:
In my last post, I considered the possibility that enemies of Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion from within the party would like to see their own party lose the by-election in the riding of Outremont. A Liberal stronghold, the Liberal candidate is Jocelyn Coulon, an academic cut from the same cloth as Stephane Dion himself, a candidate that was not nominated by the Liberals in the riding but appointed to be their nominee directly by Stephane Dion. A loss would reflect poorly on Stephane Dion on a number of levels -- weakness in Quebec, poor decision-making skills, etc -- and might accelerate his departure as leader of the Liberal Party.
And this:
We don't know whether the allegations are true (Ignatieff supporters like Denis Coderre are adamant that these allegations are groundless) but the fact that Dion's people are going public is very telling.
Think about it.
Stephane Dion and his people see a resounding loss shaping up in Outremont, and not a single win in any three of the Quebec by-elections being held on Monday. The Conservatives, on the other hand, are likely to pick up a seat in Quebec, suggesting that Tory strength in Quebec is not an anomaly that will disappear as memory of the Sponsorship Scandal recedes, but a growing threat based on real shifts in Quebec political thought.
And a real threat to Stephane Dion's future.
The knives are out and in the backrooms operatives are being dispatched to plant the seeds of doubt. I think I may have witnessed one of these Johny Appleseed operatives in action. This clip from Garth Turner's recent Lost Tory Tour's stop in Calgary.
So there are some lifelong Liberals wondering out loud about the time lines of another leadership convention. Hhhhmmmmmm. What was this tour really about?
What struck me most about the whole Garth Turner experience was the obvious scripted nature of the questions posed by lib operatives.
Last night I had the honor of meeting a real life MP. Well ...large on the Me and....well....I don't want to get into the p.
But hey...it was fun. As it turns out there happened to be a hardass biker and self professed purveyor of the unvarnished truth riding into my berg. How could I resist. With this in mind I ventured forth to meet this Garthacle warrior.
Unfortunately the hardass turned out to be a candyass, the seasonable weather in Alberta had nixed the thundering Hogs for Democracy symbolic ride. I must admit I had visions of Garth roaring into the room ala Paul Tuetle Sr. but such was not the case. Instead we got a rather crappy Al Gore knockoff with half the sophistication and twice the hyperbole.
On the other hand the raw video of the whole event will be posted here in sections as youtube allows. I must apologize for the poor content as the biker fella seemed a little off his game.
For those of you who don't have the time for the whole Garth Turner experience I suggest the last two minutes of Part 3 along with Parts 4,5 and 6 for maximum viewing pleasure.
Anyways, part one of A Lost Tory Tours or Garth Turner Unedited.
Sorry about the snickering in the background. My bad. I will be updating this post with the entire video as I get it uploaded. Trust me it does get better/worse based on your political leanings and how well developed your sense of the ridiculous is.
Here we are folks...Garth Turner Unedited Part 2 Enjoy!!
I will be adding some commentary as soon as I solve all my technical issues. I must admit I really suck at the technical aspects of all this but I am learning.
Garth Turner Unedited Part 3 is now available. This is where things get interesting.
Garth reports the outing of the con agent provocateurs (Chris and I) on his site as follows:
As usual, I did a 30-minute opening presentation, then we went open mic for the next hour. It’s seldom I get heckled during my formal shtick, but this is Calgary, home of the ugliest emails that this poor little defenseless blog receives. The fact there were two Con operatives lurking in the corner of the back row, one carefully taping my every move, became immediately obvious.
I started to feel all tingly. Finally, protestors. Be still, my heart.
Jeez Garth....immediately obvious...wha... According to the tape it was some 29 minutes into your schtick when I blew my cover.
I had been given some well reasoned advice to play it cool and attempt to trap Garth with a softball question during the Q&A and intended to do so, unfortunately I reacted to a particularly specious rhetorical question thrown out by Garth.
Once again don't take my word for it....Garth Turner Unedited Part 3
Yep...Garth's spider senses were tingling. Although I must admit it takes a skilled orator to connect the collapse of a bridge in Minnesota, an overpass in Quebec and American military spending in Iraq.
Huh...You ask. Watch the last minute again. BTW, I meant what I said...A hell of a show.
More to come.
Garth Turner Unedited Part 4
In this segment we get to the Q&A portion of the dog and pony show. At this point I would like to clarify a few things.
First, I am a member of no political party although I do blog sporadically under the Blogging Tories banner. I consider myself a small c conservative.
Secondly, all the Liberal Party functionaries were sitting on the right side of the room and the less enthusiastic amongst us on the left. Go figure. This does become pertinent once the softballs start getting tossed.
First up is a member of The Mount Royal College Liberal Association (self identified). Can anybody explain to me what the hell his question was? Anyways, I hope nobody gets hurt as Garth knocks the high hangers out of the park.
Back to our previously scheduled entertainment.
Up next...Part 5..or Garth Vader Falters.
More as it's loaded.
The penultimate edition of our little mockumentary. Garth Turner Unedited Part 5.
Garth describes the action this way:
But the big issue to hang around my poor neck once the comment period arrived? That mailers were sent out to people in Calgary, advertising the meeting, and that this was done from the office budgets of more than a dozen of my colleague MPs. As I explained, the mailings were printed by the House of Commons, stuffed into envelopes and mailed by the House, according to rules all MPs must respect. The point was also made that the prime minister uses this technique more than any other MP, flooding other ridings (like mine of Halton) with pro-government material. Like, yawn.
I left it to another person to bring up the current scandal about Conservatives laundering national election money through local ridings. Then the crowd shouted the guy down. And that was it. The two sat and grumbled for a while. Shot more videotape. But when a CBC television cameraman started mousing around their corner of the room, the ops fled.
Now is it just me or is a theme evolving...."my poor neck"..."but this is Calgary, home of the ugliest emails that this poor little defenseless blog receives"...
But I digress.
Things get a little feisty and according to my understanding of the difference between 10%ers and franked mail...well let's watch Garth explain.
The final segment soon to follow along with a few observations.
Done and done. Garth Turner Unedited Part 6
The stirring finale to A Lost Tory Tours.
Once again to clarify. We did not run from the room. I approached the LPoC functionary who offered to explain the nuances of 10%ers and franked mail to me.
According to Garth this would be the fella that shouted me down. While I admit the right side of the room offered enthusiastic applause in response to the party operative's offer to shut me up, I hardly thought I was shouted down.
Chris continued to film and I took my seat and watched as a few more softballs were tossed. The most interesting was the one from the fella in the red and white jacket. Something about a looming LPoC leadership convention. I wonder who he might support?
Next up was the local riding president to pose her second question of the evening. Two out of eight, obviously a lady with much on her mind. As I listened it occurred to me that the next move was to take the fella from the LPC up on his offer.
I approached him politely (kneeling at the edge of the aisle and getting the attention of his pretty escourt who gave him the heads up) and asked to speak with him in the hall. Being an earnest and lawyerly young fella he agreed. You can see us leaving the room on the right side of the screen.
Outside he agreed to an on camera interview to explain how Liberal Mp's communications budgets were co-ordinated to make the Lost Tory Tour the resounding success it obviously is.
Unfortunately, Chris miscued on the camera and only a few seconds at the end of our discussion are caught on tape. Considering we bought the camera at Best Buy yesterday afternoon, Chris did a fine job.
As we taped (well not taped but I explained that) outside the hall we were joined by three older gentlemen who stood off camera. Two of the three were clearly unimpressed. The third who had a decidedly sunnier disposition asked to take my picture with the young lawyer and can be heard commenting at the end of our tape, something to the effect that I asked good questions.
Regardless, that image of me is the one that appears on Garth's blog, although my lawyer friend appears to have been deleted from our photo-op. Sad really, he was a nice fella.
Garth also makes reference in his blog to the CBC cameraman. Chris gets sufficient shots of him over the duration. Here is the interesting part. The picture of Chris that appears on Garth's blog must be directly from the "CBC" camera. At no time that we were aware of did anyone other than the cameraman approach us to take pics in the meeting hall.
Now this poses a number of other questions. I'll pose those at a later date but I do encourage you to let your imagination run amok.
And finally watch the body language of Garth under questioning and the greazy eyeball he shoots at Chris when I was leaving the room.
Nuff said....Garth turner Unedited Part 6
Some final thoughts.
Chris is a young man from Cape Breton who came to Alberta to work because there in none there. On the way home he commented to me as follows:
"We don't have enough problems back home in Cape Breton that these guys have to come out here to create problems or to fix something that aint broke."
And that Mr.Turner is the real essence of what this was all about. You can wax poetic on your blog all you want, hell you can even piss our money away to promote yourself....these things are apparently all legal.
Just don't expect these two citizens to like it.
I speak for myself and Chris does the same. No conspiracy here sir. Unedited is the way to go!
Syncro
UPDATE
I meant to do this earlier but got distracted with the tech angle of all this. Here is mypersonal invitation to last nights event as it appears on Garth.ca
Garth
Thanks for the clarification. BTW, as I am not a member of any political party, no membership lists will be forthcoming.
I’m also heartened to hear that no “new” money is being spent promoting your tour and assume this is “old” money that was left laying around.
Any chance you might provide a list of the 15 constituency offices who ponied up? It might make for some interesting reading.
And finally. Being neither a member of any political party or a disgruntled income trust investor, how would I go about getting an invitation to your Calgary shindig at MRC?
Is this invitation only? Tickets required?
Thanks in advance.
Syncro
Dear Mr. Syncro; Please accept this invitation to attend the Valgary Town Hall meeting. The pleasure of your company is requested. — Garth
I have been taken to task on Garth's blog by a number of commentors who faithfully defend his honor and have casted aspersions on my motives. Fair enough.
Unfortunately I have been unable to respond due to unforeseen technical gremlins that will not allow me to post to Garth.ca.
If anybody out there is familiar with any of the denizens of Garth's blog I would appreciate if you could direct them this way.
Thanx.
Syncro
Upperdate
I would seem that I've been outed by a regular reader at Garth.ca. This of course would not have been necessary had I been able to post at Garth's site but the aforementioned technical difficulties are still in effect. It seems Digital Democracy has some limitations and challenging Garth on the facts seems to be a big one.
Regardless, my outing :
Steve on 09.13.07 4:24 pm said:
So that was you huh Bob? At least get a leather jacket that has as few pieces as possible. It does look like you decided on the cheapest jacket just made out of scraps.
Nope Steve,
It wasn’t Bob. It was LLoyd, or rather it was Syncrodox as he likes to style himself. He of the tatty black vinyl jacket who is a BT tho protests that he’s really not one of them but a small “c” conservative. Whatever.
He’s put up a series of You Tube videos of Garth’s TH in Calgary. With quite the written commentary to go with it. An awful lot of explanation even before one sees the videos. Mostly to apologize for the quality and of course to get his con-style witty jabs in.
Perceptions are funny things no?
Geo
By Georgine on 09.14.07 3:18 am
Sadly, Geo neglected to provide a link to my site. It might have been edifying for other readers of The Turner Report to get access to some Garth Unedited video.
Now it would seem that informed reader Geo and Steve before her (who in an earlier comment states he was at the meeting) take issue with my attire. Although Geo does mention my "con style witty jabs", which I assume are much different than "lib style witty jabs".
Garth offers one here in response to a commentor:
Have you started you French lessons yet? — Garth
By Myron on 09.13.07 10:08 am
May wee mon cher ami Garth. Je parlay francais oosi, ay voo ..?!
You are an embarrassment to this blog, let alone to your country. — Garth
By Myron on 09.13.07 10:56 am
Geo, I'm sorry my wit doesn't meet this high standard.
Now onto my leather jacket. Did you happen to notice the Canadian flag embroidered on the left chest? That jacket was given to me by my Grandfather and was bought through The Royal Canadian Legion. He wore it with pride and I choose to wear it the same way.
If it doesn't meet your fashion approval, so be it. I do also find it interesting that this was your biggest complaint, but then again in some quarters fashion probably does trump fact.
And finally Geo, I stand by my statement that I have never been a member of any political party. As you may or may not know The BT's is a blogroll in the same way Liblogs, Progblogs and Libertyblogs are. Given my self identification as a small c-conservative the Bt's is my obvious blogroll home.
I know that the Puffin bit is passe but it does seem to have legs. By now you all know that Deputy Leader of the LPC Mike (Iggy Puff) Ignatieff recently waxed poetic on the virtues of the Puffin. Now I'll be out front here and admit I've never met a Puffin.
That said, I'm sure Puffins are fine and upstanding citizens of Canada. The fact that Iggy is fascinated by their propensity for hiding their excrement is noteworthy. Not because I say so but rather because this string has continued to play out to the point that some 'heavies" from the MSM are now weighing in.
Editors Note: Please click the link and pay attention to the name of the ship that floated all things Liberal. Some of the more/least salient points:
"The puffin is a noble bird," Ignatieff proclaimed. The next day, as caucus was winding up, reporters were looking for some amusing material for weekend features and asked Ignatieff to expand on his views of the puffin's nobility. Gamely, he obliged and recited some trivia he'd learned from the tour, including the fact that the little bird mated for life and hid its own waste in one place.
"It's a noble bird because it has good family values. They stay together for 30 years. I'm not kidding. They lay one egg and they put their excrement in one place. They hide their excrement. They hide their excrement!
They have good family values. They flap their wings very hard and they work like hell. This seems to me a symbol for what our party should be," he said.
"The puffin is not anybody's hero right off the bat, but you see those little flappy wings and how it works and those good family values and you start to warm to the puffin." The reporters, including this one, were highly amused – in a light-hearted way. That was the object of Ignatieff's little dissertation on the puffin.
Susan....ummmm....yesterday Iggy Puff learned some trivia...today it becomes a dissertation? That is one bad ass Prof.
Editors Note: Did you click the link? Quick quiz. What was the name of the boat? This will become pertinent later.
Back to Sue:
You wouldn't know it, though, from some of the scandalized reaction to the remarks – what kind of numbskull compares his party to an animal that hides its excrement? How dare he give the Conservatives ammunition to attack the Liberals? (Just as an aside, how would that work, exactly? Are Prime Minister Stephen Harper's attack-addicted gang going to run TV ads in which Dion appears as a puffin? Wouldn't that actually be kind of endearing?)
I don't know Sue. Would he be hiding his excrement in little brown envelopes?
Editors Note: Pop quiz. What was the name of that boat again?
Anyways, more Sue:
Humour seems to have gone out of fashion in politics in Harper's Ottawa. It's difficult to explain why that's happened. Even political comedy isn't as funny or as popular as it once was. Several months back, a columnist in the Ottawa Citizen noted how veteran CBC comedian Rick Mercer isn't as funny as he used to be, because Mercer now cultivates celebrities instead of mocking them.
So...It's Harper's fault that Mercer is no longer funny. There must have been something in that sandwich that Harper made him. Do you think Mercer got reality germs on him or cooties? But I digress.
You know what Sue. I could spend hours deconstructing what you pass off as journalism (did you graduate from Ryerson perchance?) but lets cut to the chase.
The name of the boat that the Liberal brain trust went looking for whales on(out of season I might add) was The Atlantic Puffin.
Think about it Sue. What might have happened if they had chartered the Atlantic Pogge or the Atlantic EEL or the Nasty Bad Business.
Apologizing for the disertations of the Deputy Leader may have been beyond even your "objectivity".
And finally, I give you the ultimate kiss of death vis a vis credibility .
Syncro
* No Puffins were hurt in the making of this blog.
It has been almost four months since I've hit the keyboard. Partially due to the seasonal nature of my income and partially due to my lack of passion for the whole blog writing experience. I did manage to take part in a small way on the Great Canadian Debate site and as always have dropped the odd comment with friends and foes alike.
That said, I have been inspired to take to the keyboard again by none other than The Canadian Cynic. As you may or may not have noted, I provide a link to Cc (Canadian Cynic, not to be confused with ChuckerCanuck or CC) under the category Leftardtopia. I also include Robert Mc of My Blagh fame and Pal of The Stormy Days of March in the same category.
Philosophically, ideologically and logically speaking these folk are at the opposite end of the spectrum from myself, yet I read their thoughts to try to understand what might motivate their perceptions and comment on rare occasions. As a result I have become aware of the surprisingly logical and impassioned position taken by Cc regarding blogger anonymity.
Those are the last kind words I will speak of the Cynic. Therefore I will begin the deconstruction and lay bare the hyper hypocricy.
Some excerpts:
I hate to interrupt your determined efforts to ignore all of the exciting developments on Canada's political scene over the last week or so, but I have something I'd like to chat about.Apparently, over the last several days, I have, in my own quiet way, infuriated one Mr. Patrick Ross (and, by really creepy association, his good buddy, the ego that walks like a man, Werner Patels), to the point where he has furiously promised to track me down and give me a stern spanking. Well, OK, actually, he's promised to track me down and reveal my identity on his blog to all of those misbegotten cretins who have the necessary lack of taste to read his blog.
Reality check here Cc. In your own quiet way......Wha????? Anybody who has ever dropped in on Cc would hardly call this entity quiet,. Don't take my word for this, check out the body of the Cynics work. Some more of this self preservationist drivel:
Now, I'm well aware that neither of those two misfits is a member of the BTs, but it seemed like the perfect opportunity to at least come to an understanding on an absolutely minimal level of civility that we should be prepared to uphold in the Canadian blogosphere
O.K. Now do I understand this statement correctly? The Canadian Cynic, who's chief claim to fame on the blogosphere is consistent and vitriolic attacks on Blogging Tories is now seeking an alliance with the same to protect his anonymity from a personal attack from other bloggers?
Breathtaking!!! But it gets better.
As I'm sure you know, I choose to blog anonymously. That's my choice and, regardless of what others might think of what I write, I typically expect those people to respect my privacy. Critics of mine are more than welcome to leave dissenting comments at my blog (within reason), and are just as welcome to write scathing denunciations of me on their own blogs, and more power to them. But, regardless of how heated things get, I've always considered one's bloggy anonymity to be sacred and not to be trifled with.
Well, that does sound plausible, considering The Cynic does allow comments. Although he does refer to any and all Bt'ers as the Wankosphere and more personally has called Kate at SDA any number of filthy names. Incidentally on the very thread that he pleas for respect for his anonymity he allows this comment from noted intellectual and Cc fan Ti-Guy regarding another of his enemies Richard Evans.
I've never been interested in the personal lives of bloggers or commenter's. Even Richard Evans of Beddington Crescent, Calgary... By Ti-Guy, at 5:35 PM
So to summarize: So far Cc has written an open letter to a blogging aggregator whom he hates, to help him maintain his anonymity in the face of attacks from independentbloggers and at the same time allows a devoted reader to out the address of his stated enemy. yep that seems consistent with the logic and integrity that I've observed from the Cynic. Of course there is more, so back to Cc:
Consider your own BTblogroll -- it clearly has a number of anonymous bloggers and, while I've taken exception with a number of them over the lifetime of my blog, it's never occurred to me -- not for a second -- to spend any time tracking them down so I can expose their real identities. My preference is to link to what they write, use my vastly superior intellect and reason to tear it to bloody shreds, and leave it at that. Once your credibility has been taken out to the parking lot and beaten senseless, it really doesn't make any difference whether you sign your name to it or not, don't you agree? So here's my point.
Uhhhhmmmm....Cc....Were this a parking lot you'd be laid out somewheres between the 73 Pinto and the dumpster, but I would love to hear the point......tell me....tell me!!!
While you clearly have no influence over the unprincipled douchebags that are Patrick Ross and Werner Patels, you most certainly have some power over the BT membership. So I'm going to throw out a challenge here: I'm challenging you to take a public and unambiguous stand, and denounce, in the strongest possible language, the practise or encouragement of, directly or indirectly, "outing" anonymous bloggers just because you don't like what they write. And, just to be fair and balanced, I'm making that challenge to every other political blogging collective in Canada.
Let me be clear as to what I'm talking out above. I don't just mean condemning bloggers who are actively trying to out other bloggers. I'm also including bloggers who, while they may not be engaging in that activity themselves, are clearly egging on others to do it, either on their own blogs or by way of comments on others' blogs. In short, anyone who is seen as promoting that activity in any way and in any forum should be considered just as guilty as those doing it.
Once again I have to wrap my brainpan around this. In desperation the Cynic calls out to a man he has personally slagged in the spirit of fairness. Check. The Cynic, who has no compunction about tossing filthy diatribe at bloggers who have the balls to eschew anonymity for integrity now seeks their support. Check. The Cynic who holds himself up as a paragon of free speech now calls for a ban on not only bloggers who threaten others anonymity but those who in any way shape or form support "outing" any pseudonymous entity, regardless of their proven crapulence. Check.
A true leftard triple threat. Gutless, spineless, victim. But there is more:
(Naturally, there should be exceptions, as in the case of any anonymous someone who has gone beyond just being annoying and is into actual harassment. In cases like that, outing is simply being defensive, but that's obviously under exceptional circumstances.)
Wow! I guess the Cynic has never read his own garbage regarding Kate McMillan. Then again I've never heard Kate cry about any of this crap. Now that poses a whole different set of questions regarding gonads......but I digress.
And finally, the ultimate pile of piffle:
As I said, this will in no way affect Messrs. Ross or Patels since, as far as I know, they don't belong to any aggregator (not surprising, since I can't imagine any aggregator desperate enough to want them.) But if it can be brought to your attention that any of your BT members are cheering them on, I'm challenging you to drop those members from the BTs. And, as I said, I'm making the same challenge to every aggregator in Canada. It's only fair.
So, Stephen, what say you? You and I both know we're never going to see eye-to eye but, regardless of our differences, we should be able to agree that there are some lines that we're simply not going to cross, and we're prepared to punish those people who do.
There's the challenge. Your thoughts?
UPDATE: As RT points out, WeinerPatels is a member of Liberty Blogs, and he's made it clear he thinks the idea of outing me is a terrific idea. So, Liberty Blogs ... how's your level of principle today?
BY THE WAY, I did email Stephen Taylor directly regarding this issue; I'm not just counting on him eventually reading this blog. So far, nothing.IN FACT, I just received a perfectly respectable and thoughtful e-mail from Mr. Taylor, and we're going to chat further. And I want to publicly thank him for being willing to discuss this.
Fairness eh.....some lines WE won't cross eh.....and WE"RE prepared to punish those who do eh. All of a sudden WE"RE all in this together eh. PRINCIPLES eh.
I've seen a lot of crappy things in my life, violent, heartbreaking, confusing, frustrating, infuriating but this is without a doubt the most PATHETIC.
Syncro
p.s. In the spirit of fairness I will crosspost this at Canadian Cynic and as I always do I will not hide behind the cloak of anonymity.
Update
The Cynic has responded to my post in the fashion I expected. Weak logic coupled with poor writing, followed with a healthy dollop of tunnel vision.
Now I'll freely admit that I've been guilty of the same to various degrees, albeit not all at once.
And finally a clarification. After reading my own post I think the principle I'm espousing may well be misconstrued.
For the record I'm not defending the outing of the Cynic, rather I'm pointing out (based on observable behaviour) that he may be the worst example on the Canadian blogosphere for the defense of anonymity. Oddly enough he continues to make the case for me.
Finally, the utter lack, nay, contempt for integrity displayed by the Cynic is my point. Unless being consistently inconsistent falls into the PC/Leftard definition of integrity.
I was surfing the blogs...left...right and moonbat to see what's up. Bored at the low saturday night traffic I checked out garth.ca. What Ifound was entertainment of the most unexpected kind.
I'll give you some tips...or key words as you kids call em... Millionare Condos....No subsidies...David Dodge....15 BIL and I can't get my mind around that...Sweden and a whole bunch of other countries..$300 Million to fight women.. From the pockets of the lawyers into the wallets of woymen....Quite frankly.... Quite frankly.....
Well you decide. But I must warn you if you are squemish with the sight of multiple retardation...this is not for you. Others...
As those of you who frequent my humble blog may have noted, I post sporadically and when I do snottyness is generally the order of the day. That said, I have been thinking of moving towards a full-parody style of writing in the tradition of The Onion or the incomparable Scooters Report. As a self-proclaimed conservative my obvious target would be the left.
Having done some market research into the possibilities available for those who would mock the left, I find the market to be a crowded one. There are of course partisans such as Chucker Canuck who excell at mocking the left among us who pretend to lead, while right leaning non-partisans like Olaf of The Prarie Wranglers mocks the left with a kinder, gentler, machine gun wit. Yet others like Kate Mc Millan of Small Dead Animals cuts to the chase with the succinct precision of an onacololigical surgeon.
While I respect the unique abilities of each of the above, I find the stiffest competition in mocking the left is...well... the left. Case in point...The Toronto Starand their editorial take on Global Warming.
The instant the doors to the crowded elevator closed, an elegantly dressed businesswoman who was squashed into one corner spoke up loudly and excitedly: "Okay, who is ready to quit their job and sign up to help him?" The "him" was Al Gore.
We were riding up the elevator in a downtown Toronto hotel late last month to meet Gore after he had delivered to a business audience his now-famous presentation on global warming, which formed the basis of the Oscar-winning documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth.
The woman's excitement mirrored the response that follows Gore, known by many of his fans as "The Goracle," wherever he appears in Canada.
The Goracle... a clever compilation of Gore and oracle. What exactly is an Oracle? This from the free online dictionary (because I'm too cheap to buy one)
or·a·cle play_w("O0104400") (ôr-kl, r-) n. 1. a. A shrine consecrated to the worship and consultation of a prophetic deity, as that of Apollo at Delphi. b. A person, such as a priestess, through whom a deity is held to respond when consulted. c. The response given through such a medium, often in the form of an enigmatic statement or allegory. 2. a. A person considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinions. b. An authoritative or wise statement or prediction. 3. A command or revelation from God. 4. In the Bible, the sanctuary of the Temple.
(emphasis mine)
Would that deity be Gaia? Has AGW become a religion? If so how does this fit with the left's repulsion of religion? Hmmmmm.... Anyways...
The elegantly dressed business woman. Class, power and feminity...the proverbial triple threat...yet she is seemingly willing to give it all up to follow the Goracle. Wow!!!! Is the glass ceiling a product of powerfull men and close elevators? Just asking. meanwhile back at the Torstar.
That excitement was present Monday when Gore spoke to 5,000 people packed into a Regina hockey rink, and when he spoke later that day to 1,600 people at a Calgary concert hall at an event sponsored by the local chamber of commerce
At $ 125,000.00 per pop I think it wasn't a bad day for the Goracle, but I digress.Back to the Torstar once again.
That excitement is most noticeable among Canadians who feel deeply about the environment and are eager to take action. A report prepared for the Harper government and obtained by the Star labelled these people, who it said represent about one-fifth of the population, "the Suzuki Nation."
(emphasis mine)
Feel deeply....so this is an emotional process..excitement is equated with truth. The best the lefties can claim is that 20% of the Canadian population buy the the evangelical prophecies of an ORACLE? As far as I'm concerned I thought the term Goracle was a rhetorical bitchslap. I guess not.
More of the self-fullfilling parody:
This week alone, Gore will have given his slide show on climate change eight times. Suzuki is just as active.
O.K. I ain't no theoeretical physicist or econonomist...but 8x$125,000.00 is somewheres around a cool Million. Unless you're a Vanderbilt or a Ford...that ain't a bad week.
Earlier this year, he made 40 appearances as part of a 30-day, cross-Canada bus tour aimed at promoting the fight against global warming.
That would be Suzuki, fourty stops in thirtydays, grueling, except for the "rockstar" bus and the foundation. The humanity!! As an aside, Dr. Dave has managed to collect a few bucks for the Suzuki Foundation.
Together, Gore and Suzuki are influencing a nation, especially young Canadians, like no politician is these days. And together, they have put climate change at the top of the political agenda. Politicians are slowly becoming aware of that, as demonstrated this week by the Harper government's effort to put a positive spin on its much-hyped plan to combat global warming.
Are you folks following me? My train of thought I mean. Read that last paragraph. When yer done... read it again. I had to.
Let me translate.....A mediocre politician and a CBC personality (check this man's real credentials) are influencing a nation. And they decry the spin???
Well I think it's finally happened. Every once in a while all the planets align, critical mass is achieved and a mighty confluence occurs. As far as Kyoto is concerned I think this past week signals the apex of leftard lunacy that is "climate change". But how can this be?
Well, with most issues driven by the leftosphere one need only look towards Hollywood for direction. Yesterday the high priest of climate change, Al Gore, was honored with an Oscar for his rousing performance in An Inconvenient Truth. Never one to shy away from hyperbole, Gore had this to offer.
"It is the overriding world challenge of our time," Gore said. "I really hope the decision by the academy to honor the work by director Davis Guggenheim and these producers will convince people who did not go see it before to see the movie and learn about the climate crisis and become a part of the solution."
For those of you who have yet to view Gore's opus, I encourage you to do so. It's a hoot! Al manages to include a bit on being robbed of the presidency by GWB ( presumably this crisis would have been prevented by a Gore administration), tugs at our heartstrings with an animated image of the impending flooding of ground zero, trumpets the the scientific certainty of global warming cause and effect and links the ferocity of hurricane Katrina to the global warming crisis.
While I could spend hours deconstructing much of this tripe, lets focus on the Katrina claim. This introduction from the Denver Post.
You'll often hear the left lecture about the importance of dissent in a free society.
Why not give it a whirl?
Start by challenging global warming hysteria next time you're at a LoDo cocktail party and see what happens.
Admittedly, I possess virtually no expertise in science. That puts me in exactly the same position as most dogmatic environmentalists who want to craft public policy around global warming fears.
The only inconvenient truth about global warming, contends Colorado State University's Bill Gray, is that a genuine debate has never actually taken place. Hundreds of scientists, many of them prominent in the field, agree.
Gray is perhaps the world's foremost hurricane expert. His Tropical Storm Forecast sets the standard. Yet, his criticism of the global warming "hoax" makes him an outcast.
"They've been brainwashing us for 20 years," Gray says. "Starting with the nuclear winter and now with the global warming. This scare will also run its course. In 15-20 years, we'll look back and see what a hoax this was."
Gray directs me to a 1975 Newsweek article that whipped up a different fear: a coming ice age.
"Climatologists," reads the piece, "are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change. ... The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality."
Thank God they did nothing. Imagine how warm we'd be?
Another highly respected climatologist, Roger Pielke Sr. at the University of Colorado, is also skeptical.
Pielke contends there isn't enough intellectual diversity in the debate. He claims a few vocal individuals are quoted "over and over" again, when in fact there are a variety of opinions.
What? Opposing views within the scientific community? Pray tell. I know this is a hell of a read but there is some interesting narrative buried deep within this report.
The U.S. landfall of major hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005 and the four Florida landfalling hurricanes of 2004 (Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne) raised questions about the possible role that global warming played in these two unusually destructive seasons.
The global warming arguments have been given much attention by many media references to recent papers claiming to show such a linkage. Despite the global warming of the sea surface that has taken place over the last 3 decades, the global numbers of hurricanes and their intensity have not shown increases in recent years except for the Atlantic (Klotzbach 2006).
The Atlantic has seen a very large increase in major hurricanes during the 12-year period of 1995-2006 (average 3.9 per year) in comparison to the prior 25-year period of 1970-1994 (average 1.5 per year). This large increase in Atlantic major hurricanes is primarily a result of the multi-decadal increase in the Atlantic Ocean thermohaline circulation (THC) that is not directly related to global temperature increase. Changes in ocean salinity are believed to be the driving mechanism. These multi-decadal changes have also been termed the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO).
There have been similar past periods (1940s-1950s) when the Atlantic was just as active as in recent years. For instance, when we compare Atlantic basin hurricane numbers over the 15-year period (1990-2004) with an earlier 15-year period (1950-1964), we see no difference in hurricane frequency or intensity even though the global surface temperatures were cooler and there was a general global cooling during 1950-1964 as compared with global warming during 1990-2004.
Although global surface temperatures have increased over the last century and over the last 30 years, there is no reliable data available to indicate increased hurricane frequency or intensity in any of the globe’s seven tropical cyclone basins. Meteorologists who study tropical cyclones have no valid physical theory as to why hurricane frequency or intensity would necessarily be altered significantly by small amounts (< ±1oC) of global mean temperature change. In a global warming or global cooling world, the atmosphere’s upper air temperatures will warm or cool in unison with the sea surface temperatures. Vertical lapse-rates will not be significantly altered. We have no plausible physical reasons for believing that Atlantic hurricane frequency or intensity will change significantly if global ocean temperatures continue to rise. For instance, in the quarter-century period from 1945-1969 when the globe was undergoing a weak cooling trend, the Atlantic basin experienced 80 major (Cat 3-4-5) hurricanes and 201 major hurricane days. By contrast, in a similar 25-year period of 1970-1994 when the globe was undergoing a general warming trend, there were only 38 major hurricanes (48% as many) and 63 major hurricane days (31% as many) in the Atlantic basin. Atlantic sea-surface temperatures and hurricane activity do not necessarily follow global mean temperature trends.
The most reliable long-period hurricane records we have are the measurements of US landfalling tropical cyclones since 1900 (Table 8). Although global mean ocean and Atlantic surface temperatures have increased by about 0.4oC between these two 50-year periods (1900-1949 compared with 1956-2005), the frequency of US landfall numbers actually shows a slight downward trend for the later period. If we chose to make a similar comparison between US landfall from the earlier 30-year period of 1900-1929 when global mean surface temperatures were estimated to be about 0.5oC colder than they were during the 30-year period from 1976-2005, we find exactly the same US hurricane landfall numbers (54 to 54) and major hurricane landfall numbers (21 to 21).
We should not read too much into the two hurricane seasons of 2004-2005. The activity of these two years was unusual but well within natural bounds of hurricane variation. In addition, following the two very active seasons of 2004 and 2005, 2006 had slightly below-average activity, and no hurricanes made landfall in the United States. This was only the 11th year since 1945 (67 total years) that the United States had no landfalling hurricanes.
(emphasis mine)
In an act of irony as subtle as a Mack truck Reverend Gore won in the category of best documentary. To steal a line from Steven Colbert, a more appropriate tittle might be An Inconvenient Truthiness. But I digress. I suggest that Al enjoys his Oscar because nothing signals the demise of a cause like an Oscar win.
In 2005 the Oscar buzz centered on A Million Dollar Baby as controversy swirled around the sad case of Terri Chaivo and issues of euthanasia. In 2006 the Oscar hype focused on Brokeback Mountian and Trans America as SSM was touted as the human rights struggle of our times. This year The Academy made a point of lauding their "green initiatives" and of course recognizing Al Gore's hyperbolic power point presentation.
Be afraid Al, be very afraid. When was the last time you heard anything about euthanasia? As far as SSM goes the point is largely moot and if the truth be told the real debate for most folks was a matter of semantics.....marriage vs civil unions. Life goes on.
The self appointed social conscience that is Hollywood centered celebrity has the life cycle and memory of a fruit fly. Meanwhile here in Canada the global warming/climate change rhetoric is championed by our very own fruitfly...Dr. David Suzuki. As the defacto Prophet of the Canadian branch of the Church of Climatology, Dr. Dave demands to be heard. Well we heard you Dave.
Suzuki outdid himself this past week, cranking up the wild eyed rhetoric to a level that would make another famous David blush (that is if he hadn't pushed things a bit too far). David Koresh. If I remember correctly things turned out badly for that particular prophet also.
Suzuki criss crosses the country in a rock star touring bus plastered with his saintly image, preaching to the unconverted. The brave prophet even ventured into the very center of climate evil.....gasp!....Alberta. What he succeeded in doing was exposing his ideological driven ignorance. Well done Dave. A few of his juicier quotes:
"If your premier thinks he's worried about the future -- and he doesn't realize not doing anything about greenhouse gases is going to wreck the economy -- then he doesn't deserve to be a leader," Suzuki said. He was responding to Stelmach's comments Thursday that Alberta's economic growth won't be sacrificed to meet environmental targets of the Kyoto accord.
"Look, you think you need the tarsands to go gung-ho. Albertans have always had the highest standard of living of any province in the country. What the hell do you need all this unlimited expansion, for God's sake? That's crazy," Suzuki told reporters Friday.
"We haven't even begun to apply the brain power to exploit the tarsands the proper way."
There is so much wrong with these ignorant statements I really don't know where to start. Alberta has always had the highest standard of living in Canada? Unlimited expansion? No advancements in oilsands production technology? Stelmach doesn't deserve the mantle of leadership?
Suzuki's powers of omniscience are awesome to behold in the same way a train wreck fascinates. Strangely beautiful in the most destructive way. Besides the glaring historical errors, technical flaws, moral superiority and factual bankruptcy it seems Dave also has some mathematical deficiencies.
Today’s Ottawa Sun has a Q and A session with David Suzuki about his carbon spewing bus tour across Canada and this is one of the questions.
Q: What role should Canada play on the international scene?
A: Canada produces 2% of C02 emissions, but represents just 0.4% of the world’s population.
So we produce four times more pollution per capita than the global average, and because of that, we have an obligation.
Huh? Dr. Suzuki.....I sense a growing credibility gap here.
Meanwhile on the purely political front the freshly minted "green" leader of the LPC, Stephan Dion has orchestrated a piece of strategic legislation that will in retrospect rival the brilliance of Joe Clark's 1978 budget. Specifically Bill C-288, The Koyoto Protocol Implementation Act.
The act demands that the current government produce, within sixty days of passage, a comprehensive plan to meet our Kyoto commitments.
The Liberal MP who authored a bill that could force the government to abide by Canada's Kyoto Protocol commitments calls its passage a huge step forward. MP Pablo Rodriguez appeared on CTV's Question Period Sunday to discuss Bill C-288.
The bill -- the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act -- passed in the House of Commons this week, and will now go before the Senate. The legislation states that within 60 days of its passage in Senate, the government would have to come up with a plan for meeting the Kyoto targets.
"It means that the government has no choice but to act and meet our Kyoto obligations," Rodriguez told Question Period.
"This is a long process. We started this last March when we saw that the Conservatives were abandoning Kyoto. And it was a huge fight, a huge victory last week, and things are going well now to force the government to meet our Kyoto objectives."
"The Conservatives say that it is impossible but of course they say it is impossible, they don't try," Rodriguez said.
"Parliament said that it is possible, we said it is possible. The Bloc and NDP say it is possible. Other people say it is possible. It will be difficult, require sacrifices and every day we waste it is more and more difficult. So that is why we have to act now."
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said it's time to stop laying blame, and to start taking action.
She echoed recent statements by environmentalist David Suzuki, saying Canada is already legally obligated to abide by Kyoto because it was signed by then-prime minister Jean Chretien.
"The Kyoto targets are already internationally legally binding. What Pablo's bill did was make them domestically legally binding. That is a good thing."
Under Kyoto, Canada agreed to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases to six per cent below 1990 levels from 2008 to 2012. Canada ratified Kyoto in 2002 under the former Liberal government.
The Kyoto targets the Liberal government of Jean Cretin signed us up for are attainable, Stephane tells us so. In fact the Liberals have had a plan for years.
Eddie Goldberg, the ultimate Liberal insider recently outlined the subtle brillianceof this plan.
While it's obvious Canada's previous Liberal government bought a pig in a poke when it signed the Kyoto accord, it's nice to have it confirmed. By Eddie Goldenberg, former prime minister Jean Chretien's top aide, no less.
Last week, Goldenberg told a London audience the Liberals knew they couldn't implement Kyoto when they signed it in 1998 and ratified in 2002, but that it was necessary to push public opinion towards accepting implementation of the controversial treaty on global warming.
"Nor was the government itself even ready at the time with what had to be done," Goldenberg acknowledged.
"I believe that the signing of the Kyoto accord in the face of vigorous opposition served to galvanize public opinion to bring it to where it is today in Canada. In the long run, that will be far more important than whether we can meet all the short-term deadlines in the accord."
Goldenberg argued Chretien succeeded in moving public opinion to the point where, today, Ottawa can take tough action to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Those measures, he warned, will result in "big costs in dollars for business, the consumer and for the taxpayer."
To be sure, leading public opinion is something we expect politicians to do.
But the problem for the Liberals is that they did nothing to implement Kyoto after signing it, with the result that they were 35% behind their own emission target when they lost power.
Combine Goldenberg's comments with Liberal leader Stephane Dion's remarks to the National Post last summer that a Liberal government with him as PM would not be able to meet its Kyoto targets -- or, as Dion put it: "In 2008, I will be part of Kyoto, but I will say to the world I don't think I will make it" -- and it shreds what's left of Liberal credibility on this issue.
Dion's later explanation was that he meant the Liberals couldn't implement Kyoto if they aren't returned to power before 2008.
In other words, if an election is held this year and they win, they could still do it. Right. And pigs can fly.
That is one hell of a green corner you've painted yourself into Stephane! Yep...green alright...greenhorn.
For all the reasons above I think we have hit Peak Snake Oil. In the coming months expect the facts to begin to emerge from the cloud of Smug that these leftards have been spewing.
Is the environment important? Of course!
Can we do without the religious fervor and rhetorical bullshit? Absolutely!
Once upon a time (before global warming) the insightfull, intrepid and incestuous(politically speaking) ruled the land. Back then the leader smote the serfs as he saw fit. This was no problem as he had clever minions who "shaded" the "facts". All of them were fond of nature and some were specifically fond of dasies. Sadly, not one amongst this cabal was capable of an original thought. Lo they rained (sp. intended) over the land...but all empires fall.
The monarch grew aged and his principle (or is that principal?) general...he the keeper of the purse..... became restless. As always it did not end well. The kingdom was fractured and the "wise' chose their sides. He of the purse became King. He swung it like he owned it....to ill effect.
Into the kingdom came a warrior from the west with a ragtag band of men and woymen (3). It must be stated here that the Westerns were never fond of womyn.... unless they could pull the plough (3).
After much hyperbole....including theoretical warriors in the streets....the western hoarde prevailed. A calm came over the land. He of Shawinnigan was vanquished (except for his pending international acclaim.)..he of the purse was invisible or opaque at best.
Many changes were visited upon the land...yet an uneasy cloud hung ominously in the east. What of the Wizard of Kool...he of the gospel of punk. For this was the true power behind the empire.
Being unjustly ripped from the halls of power the Wizard of Kool or WK (as I will refer to him for the sake of expediency) became wrathfull.
Bloggers will continue to believe they are supplanting the mainstream media, when - in fact - the data will show that the growth and influence of blogs is waning
It came to pass that WK made another approximate proclumation. It was omnipotent, omnivorous and.....well here it is:
What say you oohh wise one:
Whenever death and violence take place in proximity to digital video recorders, these days, the results inevitably seep onto the Internet. It is unstoppable.
Simultaneously, the mainstream media can always be counted upon to write predictable stories about how they agonize about whether to broadcast or publish the disturbing images. But none of that really matters anymore: Whatever editors decide, the disturbing images inevitably make their way onto millions of computer and television screens — the 2002 decapitation of Daniel Pearl; the World Trade Center jumpers of September 11; police beatings; countless plane and car crashes. If there is someone getting hurt, somewhere, there is always someone ready to capture the hurt on a cell phone camera.
We are hypocrites about this sort of thing. If you were to ask friends or neighbours or acquaintances if they had scoured the World Wide Web for, say, the three-minute video of Pearl being murdered by Islamic terrorists, the chances are excellent that all of them would quickly say no. But some, perhaps most, would probably be lying. The Zapruder film — grimly documenting president John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, more than 43 years ago — was similarly denounced, but then sought out by the masses
If you are like me, and you watched all of the hanging of Saddam Hussein — uneasy, but also unable to tear one’s eyes away — we share the same narrow moral ground. On the one hand, we are aware that violence does, usually, beget violence. But, on the other hand, we are not unhappy to see a notorious murderer finally receiving crude justice. And grateful that a record exists, however blurry, to prove to us that he did not escape his long overdue descent into Hell.
How the mighty have fallen. Spake no more...go quietly into the night...or at the very least shut yer shameless yap.
Now this may get confusing. I bear the responsibility. I have a hell of a time differentiating between Steven and Stephan. I know...I know...it's my own fault for dissing the Nuns and dropping out of French classes the first chance I got. So for the sake of clarity I'll call Steven Harper... Steve...(well me and his good friend Chimpy Mc Hitler) and I'll call the other Steph (not to be confused with Staph......because that's a really bad infection and I'm hoping Steph will not spread like Staph).
Anyways....Steph is really on the bit, it seems Steve has been cooking up some plan to send the womyn back to the shed. I know this because he told me so ( Steph not Steve).
I told you this was gonna get confusing.
Despite adding another women to the cabinet...Steph is outraged.....It seems Steve (not to be confused with Steph) has not done enough to protect womyns rights. It would seem that $5 mil. is the make or break point between emancipation/equality and barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen..... Who would have thought?
Soooo...I gotta go.....BRENDA GET ME ANOTHER BEER.....did i say that with my internut voice?
Garths leadership is now in full swing. If youd like to know more, call Tony McLaren.
Garths tour out west was not only to bash PM Harper and try to prop up the dying leadership of Dion (making good impressions) but to bolster his leadership chances. The person making the comments about Dion at this town hall was NOT a conincidence, but carefully planned.
He may be a jerk, but hes not stupid.