On Neanderthals, Cannibalism, Nannies and Hope and Change

Hi all. I've been working on the road again and as such have missed a lot of the fun in the blogs lately. That being the case I thought I might put together a convoluted compendium of recent developments.

I should probably preface this bit by stating as a self identified knuckle dragging, mouth breathing, conservative supporting, Neanderthal I found this most disturbing.

One of science's most puzzling mysteries - the disappearance of the Neanderthals - may have been solved. Modern humans ate them, says a leading fossil expert.

The controversial suggestion follows publication of a study in the Journal of Anthropological Sciences about a Neanderthal jawbone apparently butchered by modern humans. Now the leader of the research team says he believes the flesh had been eaten by humans, while its teeth may have been used to make a necklace.

It seems my ancestors may have been eaten by a more progressive hominid.....Which got me thinking about the kinds of social cannibalism that my Liberal hominid cousins partake in like this:


OTTAWA -- She is young, single and fond of stiletto heels and figure-hugging pencil skirts - not what you'd expect to see on someone who sits in the House of Commons.

At 35, Ruby Dhalla has represented Brampton-Springdale, a riding just west of Toronto, for the Liberals since 2004, and has been intelligent, articulate and aggressive in her questioning of the government.

But political Ottawa is cliquey and still very much an old boys' club, so like single and attractive MPs who have gone before her - from Belinda Stronach to, in her day, Sheila Copps - Ms. Dhalla (or Dr. Dhalla, as the chiropractor prefers to be called) has been a target of gossip and derision.

Now, of course, she is the target of something much more serious - allegations that she underpaid, overworked and mistreated women she had hired to care for her 62-year-old mother, Tavinder. This week, the women, immigrants from the Philippines, gave an emotional account of that treatment before a Commons committee, as did Ms. Dhalla.

She has put a brave face on her predicament, saying that support from her caucus leadership has been important. But party leader Michael Ignatieff has accepted her resignation as youth and multiculturalism critic, pending the outcome of the inquiry, and Ms. Dhalla - the first Sikh woman elected to the Commons - doesn't know if she will get the job back.

Extremely ambitious, she flirted with running for the leadership when Stéphane Dion resigned after the election last fall. But now there are whispers about her hazy future and suggestions that support from inside Mr. Ignatieff's office has not been as strong as it could be.

Insiders say some of her caucus colleagues don't like the fact that she has portrayed herself as a victim in the controversy, and even friends who are drawn to her warmth and chutzpah say she can suck the oxygen out of a room. It didn't help that, at the Liberal convention held in Vancouver two weeks ago, she was spotted looking like something out of a Bollywood movie as she was whisked away from her hotel in a white stretch limo.

The cannibalism of Jane, The MSM, Ruby, The LPC as a whole and of course the leader Hannibal Lectern is really something to behold. It all makes this Neanderthal nervous as hell and more than a little leery of fangy Liberals.

Which brings me to this:

OTTAWA — The Ignatieff Liberals are upping the ante, sniffing around for a campaign plane, making employment insurance the hot issue and sending letters encouraging Liberals and “decent Canadians everywhere” to get to work to fight the Harperites.

“We are headed into a fight,” new party president Alf Apps wrote to supporters yesterday. “As summer approaches, we need to be ready.”

He wants “decent Canadians” to talk to their friends on “blogs” and “over coffee” about “real hope” and “positive change.” He also referred to the Tory negative ads, saying “Stephen Harper has already begun his attack with some nasty and petty shots at our leader.”

The image of Liberals dropping their oven mitts and snuffling around for a "hot issue" over coffee and summer bar-b-ques, preparing to fight for "real hope and positive change" all sounds like a recipe this Neanderthal wants no part of.

I guess it could be worse...I could be a Neanderthal nanny.

Syncro