It's hot in Toronto. My New York Clients say it's hot. My Detroit folks say it's hot there too.
Aren't we a bunch of whiny buggers?
***
On a normal day I can see Hamilton from my window at work. The lakers steaming across Lake Ontario, the yachts full of people who apparently don't work, and other stuff. But the lake seems to have completely disappeared as the heat causes some weird effect that might be smog or it might just be steam. Either way it's way too hot.
***
More on the morons and the Pact of Evil
The folks at the Sun and the folks that are left at the Post have been busily predicting the demise of the Tories under Peter Mackay since he became party leader earlier this month. These are the same folks who predicted the demise of the Tories under Joe Clark, and who were preparing the burial for the Tories under Jean Charest.
Well. Let me tell you mister. These particular folks usually define a good party leader based solely on how rightish that leader apears to be. However at election time, Canadians usually have other priorities. The neo-cons in this country still haven't figured this out, which is why, election after election, they are left scratching their heads. Now Peter Mackay appears to be leading the PCs away from the Unite the Right thing and perhaps the conservative Conservatives and the Orchard Conservatives will be able to refocus in a way that this party hasn't since at least 1999.
Also, for some reason, these nitwits at the Sun and the Post seem to think that David Orchard won the PC leadership race. Duh.
The folks at the Sun and the folks that are left at the Post have been busily predicting the demise of the Tories under Peter Mackay since he became party leader earlier this month. These are the same folks who predicted the demise of the Tories under Joe Clark, and who were preparing the burial for the Tories under Jean Charest.
Well. Let me tell you mister. These particular folks usually define a good party leader based solely on how rightish that leader apears to be. However at election time, Canadians usually have other priorities. The neo-cons in this country still haven't figured this out, which is why, election after election, they are left scratching their heads. Now Peter Mackay appears to be leading the PCs away from the Unite the Right thing and perhaps the conservative Conservatives and the Orchard Conservatives will be able to refocus in a way that this party hasn't since at least 1999.
Also, for some reason, these nitwits at the Sun and the Post seem to think that David Orchard won the PC leadership race. Duh.
In case you're fretting about my lack of recent posts, in case it's keeping you up at night and you're beginning to question existence, please don't worry. I'm OK, I haven't been kidnapped and I'm not locked up in a mental ward. I've just started working for a new company, and it's a very demanding job, which at least for now is not leaving me with much leisure time during the week. Of course on weekends you'll still find me in a Muskoka chair with a Labatt's 50.
All the crap that people put on their resumes, for instance "I like a demanding workplace", is crap. At least for me, I'm a lazy bastard. Maybe I should move to the cottage and open up a bait shop. Anything's better than getting up for work before the sun rises *in the summertime*, and going to bed before all the good porn comes on on Showcase.
Oops.
All the crap that people put on their resumes, for instance "I like a demanding workplace", is crap. At least for me, I'm a lazy bastard. Maybe I should move to the cottage and open up a bait shop. Anything's better than getting up for work before the sun rises *in the summertime*, and going to bed before all the good porn comes on on Showcase.
Oops.
I just remembered that I wanted to post more about the Orchard-Mackay deal thingy. I want to avoid sounding like I am putting spin on it, because that's not what I've tried to do with this blog. But I am beginning to be of the opinion that it might be the best possible outcome from this past leadership race.
I was very concerned about the aftermath of the leadership race. I am not a huge fan of Orchard or Mackay, Brison or Prentice. Each of these candidates seemed ready to take the party down a road that I didn't want to travel, some towards a closer relationship with the CA, and of course Orchard is a bit too leftish for my taste. But with Mackay as leader, and Orchard having some influence, we can be sure that there will be no talks with the CA in the near future about uniting the ideologues. Also, I like the idea of a union of the left and right, even if it's really just the centre-left and centre-right. And Orchard appeals to certain groups of voters that we have been unable to attract recently.
Anyway, I had to make that very brief, because it's bedtime for Mikey. My bed beckons. Slumber awaits.
zz
I was very concerned about the aftermath of the leadership race. I am not a huge fan of Orchard or Mackay, Brison or Prentice. Each of these candidates seemed ready to take the party down a road that I didn't want to travel, some towards a closer relationship with the CA, and of course Orchard is a bit too leftish for my taste. But with Mackay as leader, and Orchard having some influence, we can be sure that there will be no talks with the CA in the near future about uniting the ideologues. Also, I like the idea of a union of the left and right, even if it's really just the centre-left and centre-right. And Orchard appeals to certain groups of voters that we have been unable to attract recently.
Anyway, I had to make that very brief, because it's bedtime for Mikey. My bed beckons. Slumber awaits.
zz
Chapter 1
Well congratulations to Bernard Lord are in order. Oh how easy to be negative about a 1 seat majority, but it's a majority. Of course if the NB legislature selects a Tory as House speaker, then that will essentially even the numbers up. Since the Speaker only votes in case of a tie, it looks as if the Speaker of the House in the New Brunswick legislature is going to have the virtual ability to personally decide the fate of pretty much all new legislation. I'm sure there'll be 2 party whips who will want to be his best friend.
Surely at least one or two of NB's Liberals must be getting close to retirement age. Perhaps having their very own personal 18-hole golf course might encourage them to retire a few years earlier than they had planned?
Chapter 2
A strange thing indeed I received in my inbox today. An e-mail intended for someone else, not even sent to my e-mail address. Of course this has become normal practice for spammers, but I don't understand how this one got to me. It's part of a conversation between a Yank and a Canuck regarding a story that appeared on the CNN money website a few months ago, about some French bashing in the States.. Anyway, that's not important, read this:
**
"Next time they get invaded and occupied, we'll remember not to save their butts. How many americans gave their lives, so that those ungrateful cheese-eaters could have their country and culture back???? Lets hope the united states never forgets this!!!!!! i know i wont! At least the british know who their friends are, and back us up when we need them - good for them. we helped them, now they help us when we need it.
the hotel is NY is only doing that cause they know that no self-respecting person would give those cheese-eaters any money after this. it looks good on them.....keep taking down those french flags mes amis!!!"
**
...wow. Can you feel the love?
I've resisted the strong urge to reply to these clowns, but it certainly bothers me how the French-haters are revising history to suit their wacky opinion. The comment about the Yanks helping the Brits and the French (and of course many other countries who were struggling against the bad guys in WW2) completely ignores the fact that the Yanks sat out the war until they got smacked in the head by the Japanese. Anyway, I'm not going to get all "analyzy" on this stupid e-mail that landed in my inbox by accident.
Chapter 3
So two guys can get married in Ontario now. Some have already since the Supreme Court of Ontario took the unusual step yesterday of rewriting a piece of legislation (as opposed to striking it down or upholding it).
I usually think of myself as being fairly progressive on social issues, and I support the rights of gays, but this idea is just wrong. It makes me ill. This is not an issue of rights, since the only thing that has changed is the matter of government recognition.
The worst part is that there is no rational argument against the idea of gay marriages. On the other hand there is no rational argument in favour of it either, other than the idea that straight people can marry, so it's become a matter of equality. Of course there is no rational reason to explain why straight people would want to be married either.......
So gay marriage is legal now, does that mean it's right? It is perfectly legal to have sex with a sibling in this country, but I think we would all agree about the total (yuck) wrongness of doing that. What I mean is that the Supreme Court of Ontario has legalized it, but that's all. It means nothing, except on paper and perhaps at tax-time. Gay marriage is still wrong, it's still a more, it's still immoral.
Wow, I almost sound like a member of the Canadian Alliance.
Last thing, since there is an election expected this fall in Ontario, don't be surprised if you get a phone call (at suppertime of course)during the summer asking your opinion on this issue.
Well congratulations to Bernard Lord are in order. Oh how easy to be negative about a 1 seat majority, but it's a majority. Of course if the NB legislature selects a Tory as House speaker, then that will essentially even the numbers up. Since the Speaker only votes in case of a tie, it looks as if the Speaker of the House in the New Brunswick legislature is going to have the virtual ability to personally decide the fate of pretty much all new legislation. I'm sure there'll be 2 party whips who will want to be his best friend.
Surely at least one or two of NB's Liberals must be getting close to retirement age. Perhaps having their very own personal 18-hole golf course might encourage them to retire a few years earlier than they had planned?
Chapter 2
A strange thing indeed I received in my inbox today. An e-mail intended for someone else, not even sent to my e-mail address. Of course this has become normal practice for spammers, but I don't understand how this one got to me. It's part of a conversation between a Yank and a Canuck regarding a story that appeared on the CNN money website a few months ago, about some French bashing in the States.. Anyway, that's not important, read this:
**
"Next time they get invaded and occupied, we'll remember not to save their butts. How many americans gave their lives, so that those ungrateful cheese-eaters could have their country and culture back???? Lets hope the united states never forgets this!!!!!! i know i wont! At least the british know who their friends are, and back us up when we need them - good for them. we helped them, now they help us when we need it.
the hotel is NY is only doing that cause they know that no self-respecting person would give those cheese-eaters any money after this. it looks good on them.....keep taking down those french flags mes amis!!!"
**
...wow. Can you feel the love?
I've resisted the strong urge to reply to these clowns, but it certainly bothers me how the French-haters are revising history to suit their wacky opinion. The comment about the Yanks helping the Brits and the French (and of course many other countries who were struggling against the bad guys in WW2) completely ignores the fact that the Yanks sat out the war until they got smacked in the head by the Japanese. Anyway, I'm not going to get all "analyzy" on this stupid e-mail that landed in my inbox by accident.
Chapter 3
So two guys can get married in Ontario now. Some have already since the Supreme Court of Ontario took the unusual step yesterday of rewriting a piece of legislation (as opposed to striking it down or upholding it).
I usually think of myself as being fairly progressive on social issues, and I support the rights of gays, but this idea is just wrong. It makes me ill. This is not an issue of rights, since the only thing that has changed is the matter of government recognition.
The worst part is that there is no rational argument against the idea of gay marriages. On the other hand there is no rational argument in favour of it either, other than the idea that straight people can marry, so it's become a matter of equality. Of course there is no rational reason to explain why straight people would want to be married either.......
So gay marriage is legal now, does that mean it's right? It is perfectly legal to have sex with a sibling in this country, but I think we would all agree about the total (yuck) wrongness of doing that. What I mean is that the Supreme Court of Ontario has legalized it, but that's all. It means nothing, except on paper and perhaps at tax-time. Gay marriage is still wrong, it's still a more, it's still immoral.
Wow, I almost sound like a member of the Canadian Alliance.
Last thing, since there is an election expected this fall in Ontario, don't be surprised if you get a phone call (at suppertime of course)during the summer asking your opinion on this issue.
Wow. I've been away for a while, because I've recently moved to a new company (Sony), and I'm still in the adjustment phase of THAT. But I took today off, and I thought it was a good idea to write something boring as can be, about last weekend's leadership convention. Oddly my web traffic has picked up while I'm away. Does that suggest perhaps that people prefer me when I shut up?
Nope. I didn't go, even though I was a delegate. It was partly because Mr. Bachand left the race, and the format of the convention meant that as a result my vote was going to be wasted on the first ballot. And it was partly because of the Sony thing. Anyway who cares?
Let's get on to the meat of the matter, the stink in the s***. I probably don't have any insight to offer. So unless you want to read a re-hashing of the week's news, with some idiotic opinion thrown in for flavour, you might as well go.
First off, can anyone tell me what's gong on in the middle east? I've been getting a lot of my news lately in the snippets I get from the little elevator news service thingy (for those of you who don't work in fishtanks that have been stood on their end, I'm talking about a little plasma or lcd display right below the elevator numbers. It shows advertising at the bottom, and headlines and pictures on the top half. Hey, it's better than the old game of "try not to get caught staring at the girl's bum")
The MacKay-Orchard Pact of Evil
The Post and the Sun are agog and appalled. But since the Reform/Alliance decided to go down the road to becoming an ideologically-driven party, the media has assumed that the Tories would eventually follow suit. I think that that was probably my biggest concern during this leadership race, that most of the candidates were somehow planning to change the party into something it isn't. Maybe we got a hint from MacKay about his true colours when he said during the CPAC English debate that the idea of "uniting the right" made us look like a fringe group. That made me feel a lot more comfortable with him, although I still had, and still do have, concerns (we need to get some French into that boy). Anyway, from what I've seen so far, the Post and the Sun are the only ones who are crying foul about the secret pact, and my suggestion to both of those establishments is that perhaps they might want to field candidates in the next Tory leadership choosing thingy.
That's assuming of course, that Peter MacKay doesn't live forever and lead the party until the end of time.
I'm a supporter of the idea of free trade, and I am not opposed to the idea of a review of our free trade policies with the US. I believe that these policies will stand up to review on their own merits. If, however, the review panel (which will include Orchard) can come up with some good suggestions, some amendments to NAFTA, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't at least consider them.
Of course it goes without saying that if Orchard hijacks the review process to forward his personal opinion that we should abolish NAFTA altogether, then the value of the committee's recommendations will be questionable. The PC Party is not going to oppose NAFTA or free trade with the United States.
Anyway, that's about all there is to say about "the deal".
The Nose
Everyone knows that you can't get elected if you have a funny face. Well there are exceptions, Chretien, Mulroney, Diefenbaker, Bush.. but still what's up with Peter MacKay's nose?
I mean, Oh, my, god. Look at that schnozz. It is so big. *scoff* He looks like, one of those guys from that cartoon... He looks like a total dweeb, 'kay?
I mean, his nose, is just so big. *scoff* I can't believe it's just so huge, it's like, out there, I mean - gross. Look!
Great political insight, eh?
That's it for now. Please direct any complaints to here
Nope. I didn't go, even though I was a delegate. It was partly because Mr. Bachand left the race, and the format of the convention meant that as a result my vote was going to be wasted on the first ballot. And it was partly because of the Sony thing. Anyway who cares?
Let's get on to the meat of the matter, the stink in the s***. I probably don't have any insight to offer. So unless you want to read a re-hashing of the week's news, with some idiotic opinion thrown in for flavour, you might as well go.
First off, can anyone tell me what's gong on in the middle east? I've been getting a lot of my news lately in the snippets I get from the little elevator news service thingy (for those of you who don't work in fishtanks that have been stood on their end, I'm talking about a little plasma or lcd display right below the elevator numbers. It shows advertising at the bottom, and headlines and pictures on the top half. Hey, it's better than the old game of "try not to get caught staring at the girl's bum")
The MacKay-Orchard Pact of Evil
The Post and the Sun are agog and appalled. But since the Reform/Alliance decided to go down the road to becoming an ideologically-driven party, the media has assumed that the Tories would eventually follow suit. I think that that was probably my biggest concern during this leadership race, that most of the candidates were somehow planning to change the party into something it isn't. Maybe we got a hint from MacKay about his true colours when he said during the CPAC English debate that the idea of "uniting the right" made us look like a fringe group. That made me feel a lot more comfortable with him, although I still had, and still do have, concerns (we need to get some French into that boy). Anyway, from what I've seen so far, the Post and the Sun are the only ones who are crying foul about the secret pact, and my suggestion to both of those establishments is that perhaps they might want to field candidates in the next Tory leadership choosing thingy.
That's assuming of course, that Peter MacKay doesn't live forever and lead the party until the end of time.
I'm a supporter of the idea of free trade, and I am not opposed to the idea of a review of our free trade policies with the US. I believe that these policies will stand up to review on their own merits. If, however, the review panel (which will include Orchard) can come up with some good suggestions, some amendments to NAFTA, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't at least consider them.
Of course it goes without saying that if Orchard hijacks the review process to forward his personal opinion that we should abolish NAFTA altogether, then the value of the committee's recommendations will be questionable. The PC Party is not going to oppose NAFTA or free trade with the United States.
Anyway, that's about all there is to say about "the deal".
The Nose
Everyone knows that you can't get elected if you have a funny face. Well there are exceptions, Chretien, Mulroney, Diefenbaker, Bush.. but still what's up with Peter MacKay's nose?
I mean, Oh, my, god. Look at that schnozz. It is so big. *scoff* He looks like, one of those guys from that cartoon... He looks like a total dweeb, 'kay?
I mean, his nose, is just so big. *scoff* I can't believe it's just so huge, it's like, out there, I mean - gross. Look!
Great political insight, eh?
That's it for now. Please direct any complaints to here
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