August 30, 2005
Had to share…
Found at Matthew Good’s mblog: “This full-color illustrated book is a fun way for parents to teach young children the valuable lessons of conservatism. Written in simple text, readers can follow along with Tommy and Lou as they open a lemonade stand to earn money for a swing set. But when liberals start demanding that Tommy and Lou pay half their money in taxes, take down their picture... [More >>]
August 30, 2005
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
Oh yeah, not only do those annoying small humans have to return to school this week, the networks are rolling out their new fall schedules. This is my favourite TV time, and the late summer of 2005 has been a doozy. The CBC lockout has been playing near havoc with my Sunday mornings (4.5 hours of Coronation Street? Even I have to draw the line). .. I’m still recovering from the finale of Six... [More >>]
August 26, 2005
Lights on, no one home
Things are heating up in the Dominion. The Council of the Federation meeting wrapped up in Banff a couple of weeks ago, ending with a loud call for the feds to do something radical, like Fix Education for a Generation. Back in May, they struck an advisory council on the very important, though totally imaginary, Fiscal Imbalance. Meanwhile, Ontario is feeling broke and getting grouchy about that very... [More >>]
August 26, 2005
Don’t do it, Michael!
Ignatieff comes to UofT … those close to Mr. Ignatieff acknowledge he wants to get involved in the public debate in Canada after decades of living and working in England and the United States, and spending only a small part of the year in Canada. But they say he is not yet sure whether he will do that as a writer and academic, or as a politician. [More >>]
August 26, 2005
Andrew says “John told you so.”
Just keeping y’all updated on that little argument we had a while back about whether or not poverty is a problem worth addressing in the world. Yes, people actually argue about that. Here’s a BBC report about the latest UN findings (I know, I know, how can we trust the UN, and have we taken into account the rise of Asia? Blah, blah—read the article). The article And a quote from... [More >>]
August 25, 2005
CBC Radio junkies rejoice—picket podcasting is here
Check it out in the podcasting section of your iTunes music store (under CBC Unplugged). Just listened to an interesting cast from the picket lines in Regina. You can also get them from Tod Maffin’s blog, cbcunplugged.com Hmmmm, what does it say about management’s position when the locked-out workers can easily produce the company’s product themselves and get it to market? Who controls... [More >>]
August 25, 2005
Great Moments in Canadian Journalism
Norman Spector missed this one today, so I’ll help him out: Clouds part for Bombardier Business jet sales help firm post $117-million profit but investors wary – Globe and Mail. Bombardier expectations crash Share price falls 8%: To have lowest flagship jet delivery in 13 years – National Post [More >>]
August 24, 2005
waiting for a miracle, or two
A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece for the Post about an Ottawa art exhibit about shit. In passing, I made a few snide remarks about some comments that MP Chuck Strahl had made regarding the show, assuming Strahl was just another humourless paleo-conservative. Strahl wrote a good-natured and quite funny reply to the Post clarifying his position, taking it all in thick-skinned stride. I sent Strahl... [More >>]
August 23, 2005
Oh sweet Jim Stanford—take me away! Oh Margaret Wente—go away!
Writing as one who has choked through each and every one of the 41 Toronto smog alert days so far this year (smog in the middle of winter—now there’s a hopeful trend) I now nominate Jim Stanford for some sort of official position in charge of getting me to work and back. His latest column on rabble.ca brings it all together. Some quotes: …doctors estimate that smog causes 5800 premature... [More >>]
August 22, 2005
The Death of NAFTA?
At last, nearly 20 years into free trade with the United States and with things really not going our way in the softwood lumber dispute, even the architects of the Free Trade Agreement and its successor, the North American Free Trade Agreement, are sounding free trade’s death knell. Apparently, these politicians, policy analysts and negotiators believed in 1988 that free trade would be worthwhile... [More >>]
