The Postmodern Prime Minister

Andrew Coyne takes apart Brian Mulroney's testimony in the Schreiber inquiry;

"It isn’t just that Mulroney didn’t tell the whole truth. He didn’t even tell a partial truth: ie. I met him for a cup of coffee, once or twice, full stop. Because, as Wolson pointed out, he then went on his testimony to describe in some detail the nature of their conversation, including that Schreiber had hired Lalonde to represent him. And he concludes with “that was it.” So this was a partial truth, masquerading as the whole truth. The clear impression was that he had given a full description of what went on at their meetings.

As for Mulroney’s pledge that he “would have” told them the whole truth, of what value is that? He says he’d have told his interrogators about the cash if they’d asked: but there was no way anyone else could have known about it. He says he would have given the police all of his documents — his bank accounts, and his income tax returns, the works. But the bank accounts would have had no record of the payments, since he kept them all in cash. And he didn’t declare it on his income tax until 1999. There are no documents anywhere that show any trace of the payments. So his retroactive hypothetical promise that he “would have” come clean is a crock."

How curious to have a PM parsing his language in such a way, where 'the truth' is not the same as 'the whole truth' and where his concerns about how the cash payments would be viewed by investigators are his publicly claimed rational for not disclosing them. In 'Alice Through the Looking Glass', Humpty Dumpty posits "When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less" which expresses the essence of post-modern descent into meaningless relativism. Mulroney is now forced to engage in the same kind of obfuscatorial denial at the inquiry - for him, 'the truth and the whole truth' mean what he says it means, nothing more and nothing less, because if the words mean what everyone else thinks they mean he would be forced to admit he is simply lying.

Corruption of the PMs office isn't something limited to Tories like Mulroney, Chretien's laundry list of shady business dealings never met the smell test either, and in both cases we have a PM enriching themselves unethically in ways that demean the office.

All of which is way of saying that any schadenfreude I feel here for the long overdue comeuppance of Mulroney is not partisan - but is no less sweet.

Quote of the Day

"If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its own worldview,"

- the Dalai Lama.

On American Exceptionalism

Dan Larison has a terrific post concerning the suggestion that somehow Obama is not an American exceptionalist, and he rebuts the suggestion with ease.

But he goes on to make the case against exceptionalism - something rare to see among conservative authors, and he ends the piece with a terrific quote from Canadian journalist Dan Gardner on why the preaching of US exceptionalism is so 'infantile';

"Now, I don’t want to answer dogma with dogma. Strategic and national interests played major roles in the decisions of all combatants in the First and Second World Wars. They do in every war. It’s a messy world and the motives of nations are seldom simple and pure.

The sort of Americans who cheer for Fred Thompson would agree with that statement — as it applies to other countries. What they cannot seem to accept is that it applies to their country, too. For them, Americans are unique. The United States is unique. And what sets America and Americans apart is purity of heart.

“We are proud of that heritage,” Thompson said in Iowa after citing the mythology of America-the-liberator. “I don’t think we have anything to apologize for.”

Nothing to apologize for. Never did anything wrong in 231 years of history. Nothing.

This is infantile. And dangerous. A superpower that believes it is pure of heart and the light of the world will inevitably rush in where angels fear to tread. And then it will find itself wondering why the foreigners it so selflessly helps hate it so."

Quote of the Day

"It's important for people to understand that in a democracy, there will be a full investigation. In other words, we want to know the truth. In our country, when there's an allegation of abuse ... there will be a full investigation, and justice will be delivered. ... It's very important for people and your listeners to understand that in our country, when an issue is brought to our attention on this magnitude, we act. And we act in a way in which leaders are willing to discuss it with the media. ... In other words, people want to know the truth. That stands in contrast to dictatorships. A dictator wouldn't be answering questions about this. A dictator wouldn't be saying that the system will be investigated and the world will see the results of the investigation."

- George W Bush in the immediate aftermath of the Abu Ghraib photos.

So even George thinks an investigation is appropriate.

Andrew Potter on Ralston Saul

Andrew Potter's review of John Ralston Saul's thinking on Canadian identity contained this excellent passage;

"The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein liked to say that the trick to philosophy was knowing when to stop asking the questions that lead you astray. Similarly, the trick to being a Canadian is knowing when to stop obsessing over the question of our national identity. By reimagining Canada as a Métis country, John Ralston Saul has almost certainly brought English Canada’s ongoing search for an identity to an end. He has also, inadvertently, revealed how inherently futile the whole exercise has been."

Rush on Torture

"I just slapped myself. I'm torturing myself right now. That's torture according to these people." —Rush Limbaugh

"If somebody can go through water-boarding for 183 times, 6 times a day .... it means you’re not afraid of it, it means it’s not torture. If you’ve found a way to withstand it, it can’t possibly be torture." —Rush Limbaugh

"The idea that torture doesn't work — that's been put out from John McCain on down — You know, for the longest time McCain said torture doesn't work then he admitted in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last summer that he was broken by North Vietnamese. So what are we to think here?" —Rush Limbaugh

Seems pretty self-refuting to me. It's A: Not torture. B. Even if it is torture, it isn't because the guy withstood 183 waterboardings in a single month, and C. It is torture, but torture works!

Rush Limbaugh is the very definition of intellectual dishonesty and rank partisanship. How anybody can take him seriously about anything is beyond me.

As for the US, Obama has a lot of work to do to rehabilitate the country in the eyes of the world. Yes, the US tortured people, No, there was no ticking bomb, and Yes, they did so specifically because they wanted to find/create a link between Iraq and Al Qaeda where there wasn't one.

Its about as disgusting as it gets, and I believe clearly meets the level of war crimes - crimes committed by the highest ranking members of the Bush administration.

How ironic then that the GOP, the very people who pilloried Clinton for lying about a blow-job in the Oval office and screamed about 'the rule of law' would subsequently engage in criminal acts orders of magnitude worse and claim legal cover for doing so.

I smell a truth commission coming - and I suspect that the worst of the abuses have yet to be revealed.

Quote of the Day

"It is human to revel in brutality--race is irrelevant to this fact. It is human to revel in beauty---race is irrelevant to this fact."

- Ta-Nehisi Coates, on the power of poetry.

Mindblowing pictures from Cassini

Click on picture to enlarge

The Boston Globe has more incredible shots

JG Ballard 1930-2009

Most famous for his memoir/novel turned movie 'Empire of the Sun', Ballard was a prolific writer who penned dozens of science fiction novels and short stories over his storied career.

Among my personal favourites were his short stories; The Drowned Giant (a haunting story where a giants body washes up on an English beach and gradually decays), The Garden of Time, War Fever and Dream Cargoes.

Among his novels that I enjoyed the most were; Cocaine Nights, High Rise, Running Wild, Super Cannes, and of course Crash.

His works were often the inspiration for musicians - in particular for me 'Atrocity Exhibition' by Joy Division remains one of the earliest allusions to him that I am aware of.

To have my favourite director David Cronenberg tackle one of his most important novels 'Crash' and bring it to the screen with such impact is a collision of my interests that remains nearly impossible to top.

Without a doubt he will be missed.

Video of the Day

Cops Vs Clowns

Two Great Tastes...

...that go great together, NASA and the Colbert Report!

NASA names space station treadmill after Stephen Colbert

Quote of the Day

" You don't have to endorse American Cuban policy, to understand that no one can makes you become a despot. No one makes you lock up artists and intellectuals. No one makes you spend 50 years as the head of a totalitarian state. America didn't make Castro a dictator, anymore than Castro made America embark on a failed embargo policy. Two people arguing can both be wrong."

- Ta-Nehisi Coates

This strikes me as exactly right. The Castro regime is an ugly, vile dictatorship, with its hands soaked in the blood of innocents, and supporting it is wrong - but at the same time, the embargo is a failed policy that does nothing to dislodge the regime and perversely empowers it. Engaging in diplomacy and trade with a nation is not equivalent to endorsement or appeasement, indeed they are often the best (and only) methods for encouraging existing dissent to create the internal sea-change that leads to a better way forward.

Video of the Day

Old School Freight Train's cover of the Blondie classic 'Heart of Glass'

Quote of the Day

"War doesn’t educate little girls; it kills them."

- Ian Garroch Mason at 'Sans Everything'

Quote of the Day

"The fact that I expected it to be lousy doesn’t make it any less disappointing. So, all of that to find that the whole thing was a three-way mashup of The Matrix, No Logo, and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

Ugh." - Andrew Potter echoing my own thoughts on the final episode of BSG

Quote of the Day

"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - Bob Rogers


Personally I prefer the 'Prince of Nothing' series to LOTR, but otherwise the quote is spot-on.

Quote of the Day

"The problem with American foreign policy goes beyond George Bush. It includes a Washington establishment that has gotten comfortable with the exercise of American hegemony and treats compromise as treason and negotiations as appeasement. Other countries can have no legitimate interests of their own—Russian demands are by definition unacceptable. The only way to deal with countries is by issuing a series of maximalist demands. This is not foreign policy; it's imperial policy. And it isn't likely to work in today's world."

Fareed Zakaria on Obama's foreign policy critics

Darwin's Universal Acid

The Greatest Film Maker Alive

David Cronenberg to receive the French Legion of Honour.

Upside the Head

Wherein Paul Wells totally pwns Christine Blanchford.

Ouch

Video of the Day

'Heavenly Peach Banquet', by Monkey

Picture of the Day

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Quote of the Day

"A federal bank takeover is a bad thing obviously. I wonder though if we conservatives understand clearly enough why it is a bad thing. It’s not because we are living through an enactment of the early chapters of Atlas Shrugged. It’s because the banks are collapsing. Obama, Pelosi, et al are big-spending, high-taxing liberals. They are not socialists. They are no more eager to own these banks than the first President Bush was to own the savings and loan industry – in both cases, federal ownership was a final recourse after a terrible failure. And it was on our watch, not Obama’s, that this failure began. Our refusal to take notice of this obvious fact may excite the Republican faithful. But it is doing tremendous damage to our ability to respond effectively to the crisis." - David Frum

Of all the Republican noise-machine-apparatchiks Frum seems to have the least amount of stomache for spewing partisan cant, and the largest amount of common sense left in him.

That said, I still think he's a tool.

Quote of the Day

"But then, I have no party in a lot of ways — as, in fact, do a lot of Canadians. It isn’t just free marketers who haven’t got a party. Federalists have no party, in the sense of a party willing to defend the national interest against the pull of provincialism and Quebec nationalism. Democratic reformers have no party. Classical liberals (or as Barbara Frum used to call herself, “1950s liberals”), believers in the equal rights of every individual under the Charter — as opposed to group rights advocates, on the one hand, and Charterphobes, on the other — are no less bereft. There’s no party that stands for consumers, against exploitation by producer interests; for the jobless, against restrictive labour laws that prevent them from pricing themselves into work; for taxpayers, against the depredations of rent-seeking special interests; for property owners, against the marauding state. There’s just a vast gap in the Canadian political spectrum, or several of them, while the parties compete to see who can spend the most, devolve powers the fastest, pander most cravenly. Canadians think they live in a liberal, democratic, free-market federation, but there isn’t a party nowadays that believes in any of these things."

Andrew Coyne

New Perspectives on Mass Extinctions

It's the bacteria...

Two Great Tastes...

...That Go Great Together - Tron and Depeche Mode!

Picture of the Day

Hi-Res picture of Shuttle Cockpit. Click to enlarge.

Quote of the Day

"Man is a marvelous curiosity … he thinks he is the Creator's pet … he even believes the Creator loves him; has a passion for him; sits up nights to admire him; yes and watch over him and keep him out of trouble. He prays to him and thinks He listens. Isn't it a quaint idea."

-- Mark Twain Letters from the Earth

Which brought to mind the following;

'We will make great pets' - Perry Farrell (Porno for Pyros)

Picture of the Day

A company in Japan is making an Obama 'Action Figure'. Sweet.

Quote of the Day

"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace"

- from Barack Obama's Inauguration speech

When was the last time 'non-believers' were contained within the same sentence as Christians by a US President, except as a contrast? Even Clinton didn't go that far. Know hope indeed.

Sometimes Dreams Come True

The Prophecy of Calvin

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Video of the Day

Picture of the Day

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Quote of the Day

Speaking of Franken, it increasingly looks like he will win his campaign to be Senator of Minnesota over Norm Coleman.

Here's FiveThirtyEight's take on the defeated Coleman's next moves;

"Let's be frank: Norm Coleman doesn't have much of a future in electoral politics. Defeated Presidential candidates sometimes have nine lives, but defeated Senatorial candidates rarely do, and in his career running for statewide office, Coleman has lost to a professional wrestler, beaten a dead guy, and then tied a comedian. He doesn't have much to lose by fighting this to its bitter conclusion. But it's hard to envision how he'll come up with enough ballots to overtake Franken."

Nate Silver

Franken Vs Coulter...Franken wins

Quote of the Day

"I can not say this enough- it is untenable for Israel to live under constant rocket and mortar attack, and it is undeniable that the attacks have skyrocketed in recent months. It is also morally reprehensible for these attacks to be launched from schools, mosques, and hospitals, and the use of human shields is disgusting, and Hamas is now reported to be urging the continuation of suicide bombings. Having said that, I can not figure out how the answer is to just blow up said human shields and make dismissive comments about the suffering of innocents and snide remarks about their tennis shoes.

Nothing good is coming of this." - John Cole

The Antikythera Mechanism (in action!)

Farside Re-enactments

Here is a Flickr pool of Farside cartoons brought to life.

ROVER STRIKES BACK

Quote of the Day

"The latest twist in this ancient and hopeless struggle is hard to address without equal measure of distaste for Hamas's religious barbarism and dismay at Israel's apparent determination to commit slow suicide." - Andrew Sullivan

The Grasscutter Architects

Majel Barrett Roddenberry (1932-2008)

Map of Serenity's 'Verse

Oh this show had too much potential to have it end so soon.

Sorry I can't blow up the pics bigger but the link has larger versions.

Intel Dump

It's that time again, here is the flotsam and jetsam that has built up in my files the last few months;

- In the spirit of Kamandi, here's a collection of images from sci-fi where the Statue of Liberty is featured prominently.

- Popular Mechanics investigates that most pressing of questions; 'which Terminator is the toughest'?

- So long as we are immersed in apocalyptic imagery, here is a series of haunting photos of an entire town in Namibia consumed by sand.

- In the category of cool things science can do that God can't, we have 'regrowing a human jaw bone'.

"Scientists say they have replaced a 65-year-old patient's upper jaw with a bone transplant cultivated from stem cells isolated from his own fatty tissue and grown inside his abdomen."

Sweet.

- There are those who think that 2010 is a better movie than 2001. Wrong, wrong, wrong. Fortunately the articles is mostly a smorgasbord of trivia about both films that will satisfy the nerdy to the nth degree.

"My God, its full of stars" - indeed.

- Here are the 8 simple rules for women to survive in science fiction.

Rule #1 is 'Keep your panties on'. Seriously. Killjoys.

- In an attempt to recalibrate our notions of good and evil, the boys at Ruthless Reviews have written a defense of Ivan Drago (the Russian boxer in Rocky IV). Is he really the misunderstood hero of the film?

- Here's a list of 20 Things Nerdier than Monty Python. Star Trek is #1. Duh.

- Guaranteed to make you chuckle, the unintentional poetry of Roger Clemons.

- More seriously, here is an article on the future of robot warfare. Sweet ride.

- This exercise video unintentionally caters to those of us who like housewives who wear high heels and crawl on the floor. So. Good.

- From the annals of trivia so remote and obscure you simply must salute, a comprehensive list of what made David Banner 'Hulk out' on the 70's TV show. My favourites;

#3: Thinking of either of his wives

#16: Being hit by a blast of steam while trying to turn off the nuclear reactor that is melting down

#19: Being pushed down a mountainside by a Big Foot impersonator.

#20: Dealing with a pesky operator in a phone booth (I DON'T HAVE TWENTY-FIVE CENTS!!!!)

#24 Being tied up and fed soup by an elderly Japanese woman who doesn't understand ' You have got to cut me loose'!

#52: Locked in a drunk tank with a crazy person who thinks they are Ernest Hemingway who then beats the stuffing out of David.

#71: Wandering into an Army Dump to get the canister of deadly nerve gas that has blinded his friend, only to be caught by a mean MP who knocks off his gas mask and throws him back down the hill, knocking the canister open so David can frantically try to put the gas mask back on before looking up to see that the MP has somehow brought in a crane and is dumping two tonnes of garbage on him.

#106: Being fed poisonous sushi

I could go on, but the ongoing laughter made my brain hurt. Obviously they ran out of even decent plot devices relatively early on in the series.

- I so very badly wanted to go to this.

- Here is the best explanation for the sub-prime meltdown I've yet to encounter.

- Here's a wicked episode of Buckley's 'Firing Line' where he debated the 'evolutionists'. Ah Buckley, always so entertaining.

- Something everyone should know; 'How to kill someone with a Girl Scout Sash'

- An excellent article on the art of film suspense, and another on the film as cognitive theory.

- Here's a combination of two of my most nerdly pleasures; politics played out with 3d6

- How one lone loser gave masturbation a bad name for 300 years. What a jerk-off.

- How medicine is redefining 'Death'.

- As if I didn't have enough stress. This guy wonders aloud about whether or not I deserve my salary. Killjoy.

- The Dutch wrestle with another thorny freedom of speech problem reminiscent of the one that got Theo Van Gogh killed.

- How is Shaq working out in Phoenix? Not bad. Here's a pic of Shaq decaptitating a Trailblazer.

- This is SO. SWEET. A 'Tree of Life' tattoo.

- When you need to have your daiily pulp fiction fix, go here.

- In the Black Sabbath song 'Iron Man', is the titular character Tony Stark?

- More evidence that you should drink more coffee.

- Here are the 50 best comedy sketches of all time.

- Jared Diamond (Guns Germs + Steel) talks about vengeance and human nature.

- The End of the Universe is Coming. Or not.

- 5 Scientists and the laws they created/discovered. Geek trivia.

- Who are the toughest film characters? Amazingly, Roy Batty somehow did not make the list.

- In virtual reality, the Green Lantern Corps has been assigned to guard Darfur. Seriously.

- Why does home court advantage work? Your opponents are tired.

- In the same spirit as Ivan Drago - hero of Rocky 4, I give you; 'In defense of the Empire in Star Wars'. I guess its no surprise that the same people who invade Iraq and defend the use of torture also take the side of the Emperor....

- Odssmakes have Dualla as the most likely final Cylon.

- If Sigmund Freud had built bicycles....

- Philosopher Peter Singer writes on how the religious still haven't come up with a good reason for God to allow suffering.

- Here's an article that ponders one of my favourite subjects, our coming date with immortality.

- Another spiffy David Cronenberg interview.

- William Gibson on; Godzilla, Vancouver and being Canadian.

- From Henry Fonda to Jason Bourne, Slate magazine does a nice breakdown on the history of fight scenes in the movies.

- How is science a religion? Mostly, it isn't.

- More interestingly, does religion lead to disease?

- You know you want it, a dose of 'Daily Spock'. Today mine is;

"Change is the essential process of all existence."

from 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield', stardate 5730.2.

Sweet.

- From the Libertarian boys at 'Positive Liberty' who are no doubt concerned about Obama's sweeping victory; a defense for political gridlock. Maybe they should pay more attention to what is going in on Canada, where gridlock has sinply left us...gridlocked.

- Last but not least; Caveman Economics. When in doubt, move to the lowest common denominator.

Faithless societies also more moral

Macleans Article - Inside a crisis that shook the nation

A couple of weeks ago we here in Canada and a nice little political dust-up. If you are interested in a great summary of the events, Macleans has a fantastic piece, linked to the title, detailing the timeline and the people pulling the strings.

What's missing is a detailed account of what was said in the 2 and 1/2 hours that Prime Minister Steven Harper met with Governor General Michelle Jean. Fortunately, I was able to get a transcript of their conversation and have, gentle readers, included it here. (For purposes of full disclosure, I submitted it to the Edmonton Journal but they have - thus far - declined to publish it :-))

***

When Steven met Michelle – by Douglas McLachlan


Governor-General Michelle Jean: Prime Minister Harper, please come in. I was asked to cut my European trip short, you wouldn’t happen to know why?

Prime Minister Harper: Yes your Excellency, I need to you to prorogue Parliament.

GG: Really, didn’t I just deliver a Throne Speech two weeks ago?

PM: Well, yes, but…

GG: All that stuff about working together must have really struck a chord. I misjudged you Mr. Harper. I always took you as a partisan and inflexible man. I was wrong. To get so much done so quickly must have taken real statesmanship, I’m impressed.

PM: Actually, there’s been a bit of a crisis brewing while you have been away.

GG: I know, I know. This economic situation is a global concern. My trip took me to four former Soviet dictatorships with no history of political compromise all governed by multi-party coalitions that, in spite of all their differences and disputes, are stable, effective, focused on the economic... Oh, just listen to me. What do they know? You were able to get our economic response ready in two weeks! That sort of effort puts their messy new democracies to shame. So tell me what is the plan to stimulate the economy that you and your colleagues settled on?

PM: Well, actually, we haven’t got that worked out yet. I sort of provoked the Opposition by threatening to take their funding away. You see I acted like they wouldn’t mind so much if I included a plan to strip civil servants of their right to strike; deny women on the federal payroll pay equity; and change the name of Calgary to the City of Champions. I mean I did say that we would have a government surplus this year – even though we most certainly won’t – so it’s not like I didn’t mention the economy.

GG: Your government actually said all that? In Parliament?

PM: Well everything except the City of Champions stuff, I was talked out of that by Day. That man won’t stand up for anything.

GG: How did the Opposition react?

PM: They threatened to vote it down, which was sort of the plan, but they tricked me. I figured that they would bluff me. I would bluff back. Tensions build. Tempers fly. In feigned exasperation at the brinksmanship I come to you and get you to call another election.

GG: Like this fall when you told me we needed an election because Parliament wasn’t working even though nobody would vote against your government no matter what you did?

PM: Exactly. So I could get a majority.

GG: I can’t say I’m pleased to hear this but…

PM: Oh, it gets better. The Opposition actually got together and agreed on an alternative Government, a Coalition. The Liberals and the NDP put aside their differences and said they would work together for 30 months! I can’t work with my own staff for that long – its nonsense! They had a signing ceremony and everything.

GG: So why am I still talking to you again?

PM: Here’s the kicker. They even get the Bloc to say that they won’t defeat this Coalition!

GG: Come to think of it I thought I saw a letter amongst all these Canadian Tire flyers…

PM: Working with the Bloc?!? That’s my thing! Dion and Layton, they took my thing! I’ve spent years being nice to them and this is how they treat me. I’ve changed my tune now. As of last week the Bloc are a bunch of separatist traitors hell-bent on destroying the country. Well at least in English. In French I’ve been calling them sellouts to the nationalist cause. National Unity politics is a hobby of mine, it’s all about putting the right accent on the firewall…

GG: So you didn’t see this coalition plan coming?

PM: No. Which surprises me a little, given that I’m always taping their meetings, but that Dion is a tricky one. Have you ever looked at him, I mean really looked at him?

GG: Umm. No.

PM: He’s blurry. Strangest thing I’ve ever seen.

GG: When did you last get any sleep?

PM: Anyhow, they are threatening to vote non-confidence in my government and ask you to give their Coalition a chance. The vote has been put off once already but they really seem intent on defeating me. It’s right before Christmas and we just put up the tree. So, as I said in the beginning, I really would appreciate it if you could prorogue Parliament.

GG: Let me see if I have this straight. In the midst of a historic global economic crisis you intentionally created a political crisis and now are coming to me so we can have a constitutional crisis. Do you have any friends?

PM: Not really, they get in the way of the scheming. If I get through this I might want to get to know that Layton better. I think this was all his idea. You hardly notice him down there with the moustache. He’s shorter than he looks on television, you know.

GG: People will say I am giving you a free pass.

PM: Call it a cooling off period. A time-out, like in a hockey game, Canadians will understand that.

GG: Ok, I’ll give you your time-out. Think of it as an early Christmas Present.

PM: Thanks. You really are the best. I hope you can forget all the things I said and had others say about your French citizenship and your husband’s separatist dinner parties.

GG: Sure. There is one thing you should remember.

PM: What’s that?

GG: When they call a time-out in hockey, the clock stops running but it doesn’t reset. You are still down a goal. Your caucus colleagues might want to think about pulling the goalie.

Douglas McLachlan is an Edmonton lawyer, former Federal Candidate and father of a three and a half year-old girl who gets a time-out when she acts like she’s in Question Period.

Canada is NOT a Republic

A survey of over 1000 Canadians reveals a striking lack of basic knowledge about the democracy they live in.

Bettie Page - RIP

I seem to recall something about false idols...

This story just made me laugh out loud.

Because, you know, prayers work better when you anoint the vehicles first. Or some such thing. I never really got the whole prayer business to be honest.

The Atheism Song

Quote of the Day

“Crito, we ought to offer a cock to Asclepius. See to it, and don’t forget.” - Socrates

The journal Arion poses the question of what to make of Socrates famous last words and as is often the case in philosophical discourse, the meaning we attach to them depends in large part on which philosopher is doing the interpretation.

Post Thanksgiving Cheer

Bruce Lee and Ping Pong

Totally off the hook awesome

see Sarah Palin pictures

Two Great Tastes...

...That Go Great Together

Ministry covers Rod Stewart. Seriously.

A long time ago, in an election, far far away...

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

My Prediction

My Mom and Camilla

My Mom will be in another movie! As some of you know she moonlights from her day job as the world's greatest mom as an actress - typically modeling and 'background' work.

The latest is that she has been tapped to play Camilla Parker Bowles in a movie called 'Farwell Atlantis' (also called '2012').

Here's a picture I got of her in costume. It's not a speaking part, but the hope is she gets some screen time so we can scream out loud at her appearance.



Camilla may be married to a Prince, but she NEVER looked this good!

Happy Hallowe'en!

Two great tastes that go great together; Skinny Puppy and grade 'Z' zombie horror films (Night of the Creeps)

Picture of the Day

Click to enlarge

Picture of the Day

Sponsor an 'Atheist Bus' and Richard Dawkins will match your contribution!

The 2008-09 Skywalkers!

In our first season of fantasy basketball the Skywalkers finished with a respectable .500 record, and left management with a taste for the game and a desire to improve.

We left the old CBS Sportsline league and moved to the new ESPN sponsored league 'all-star' (no capitals) to face-off against a bunch of guys from Texas and Utah.

Yeah, I thought that was pretty amusing too.

The new league has a few twists compared to the last one. Instead of doubling the assists, they only count one for one, and both field goal %and three point shots made are stats to be reckoned. How these make any sense baffles me, if a guy hits a lot of three point shots won't his scoring be higher - and don't we already count that? And counting field goal % is like using shooting % in hockey, only more retarded. Anyway, it is what it is.

The new league allowed you to go in and rank all the players in the top 200 or so. Then at a specified date the 'draft' is held - which takes all of a few picoseconds of computing time since human beings aren't involved. Check the website later that day and 'voila' I had my new Skywalkers!

The teams are structured like this;

You must have one of each of the five starting positions filled; Point Guard (PG), Shooting Guard (SG), Small Forward (SF), Power Forward (PF) and Center (C). Then you get to dress one extra Guard (PG or SG) and one extra Forward (SF,PF or C). On top of those starting five and two reserves you have three 'utlility' players who can be of any position, and three guys of any position to sit on your bench - for a total of 10 players whose stats will count for you each and every week and three reserves.

Here's a rundown of how my 'draft' went; ?Note, I was picking 10th in a 10 player league (second year running I've been bottom drafter), so I had the wraparound.

1. Kevin Garnett-PF Bos

I think I had KG ranked 8th on my list so I was pleased to see him land on my squad. His numbers have diminished slightly from his MVP caliber seasons, but that is more attributable to coaches being more judicious with his floor time. Two players I want to monitor are Carlos Boozer-PF in Utah and Dirk Nowitzki-PF Dallas as both were taken ahead of KG and I want to see if the GMs who did so were justified.

2. Dwayne Wade-SG Miami

I had Wade all of last year so I know what I am getting from him. He's a top five stats buster when he's healthy and motivated - which is roughly 50 games a season lately. If he makes it a full season and the Heat are gunning for a playoff spot, his numbers should be sick wicked and nasty. If the Heat flounder early and often he'll see his minutes and intensity drop as he seeks to avoid more injuries. I prefer to see the upside of Wade, and this year he isn't the Skywalkers top pick so the pressure is off. I could have had Steve Nash with this pick, so I may have some explaining to the fanbase to do.

3. Joe Johnson-SG/SF Atlanta

I've loved JJ since his time in Phoenix, and his game hasn't declined at all. Somebody picked the injured for most of the year Gilbert Arenas ahead of him (HA!), and I'm sure he was overlooked in part because the Atlanta team is in total dissaray. Except Johnson - who is wicked awesome.

4. Al Jefferson-C Minnesota

I am shocked this monstrous center was still available in the fourth round - but as you will note this becomes a common refrain for me. Jefferson was the centerpiece of the KG trade that landed the Big Ticket in Boston. I checked a bunch of different draft boards and many had Jefferson in the late first early second. None had him in the 4th.

5. Tyson Chanlder-C New Orleans

I had Chris Paul as one of my top players to get, as well as his partner in crime David West. Unfortunately I had to settle for the third best player in New Orleans, alley-oop dunk machine Chandler. His assist totals are non existant, and his points are all from Chris Paul lobs, but at this stage he provides solid rebounding numbers to go with his offense.

6. Greg Oden-C Portland

One of the setbacks you get in an auto-draft is that you can't account for positions already filled. I already have my top center in Jefferson and a solid backup starter in Chandler - so I really would have preferred to take a point guard (Leandro Barbosa was still available) or small forward (Lamar Odom) instead of Oden here. That said, Oden looks like he could be a monster right out of the gate especially with his ability to collect blocks and rebounds (can you say 'trade bait'?, I knew you could).

7. Brandon Roy-SG Portland

Ridiculous. Roy lasts until the SEVENTH round? How did that happen? I don't care. As one commenter put it 'this is the last year Roy will be available outside of the 2nd round'. If there is one pick I made that I think will boost me into top contention it is this one.

8. Tracy McGrady-SG/SF Houston

Last year I drafted the immensely talented but seriously injury prone Yao Ming out of Houston. This year I drafted the immensely talented but seriously injury prone McGrady. Last year Yao was my 2nd rnd pick, this year McGrady is my 8th round pick. Call it a lesson learned. McGrady has all the tools to win the scoring title but is hurt more often than Michael Nylander. In the 8th round though I think he could be an awesome value. In retrospect I may have preferred Josh 'Reefer Madness' Howard here as my small forward pick, but the truth is McGrady has way more upside to go with his risk.

9. Jermaine O'Neal-C/PF Raptors

Last year I was shut out of the Raptors largely because everybody I was in the pool against was Canadian - so there was some homer action going on. This year even with weighting my lists heavily to favour them I only managed to land O'Neal - a guy who hasn't had a healthy season in his last five. That said, he's dropped weight, worked out like a fiend in the off-season, and has been playing sparing but effective minutes for the Raptors in the preseason. If he can stay healthy this pick is a total winner. If not, I wasted a 9th rounder.

10. Kevin Love-PF Minnesota

I moved him way (I mean WAY) up my draft rankings after seeing him play some college ball and a drooling over his scouting report. A gym-rat, Love is known for making absurdly difficult shots (like from behind his own net into the opposing basket), and wicked no-look passes. I knew everybody would load up on Beasley (the top forward pick from this years draft) but Love was the guy I wanted all along to fill out my roster. In Minny alonside Jefferson he could get the playing time necessary to post ROY numbers.

11. Marvin Williams-SF Atlanta

A pure scorer he brings little else to the table aside from some anemic rebounding and assist numbers. That said, a slight uptick in either and he would be a starter.

12. Thadeus Young-SF Philadelphia

He's on all the top prognosticators 'sleeper' lists as his per 40 minute stats from last year were very impressivew. Unfortunately he has to displace the absurdly gifted Andre Iguodala to get starting minutes at the SF in Philladelphia.

13. Russell Westbrook-PG Oklahoma City

A decent enough pick to fill out the bench and another rookie, but that isn't the problem. The problem was that Westbrook is my FIRST POINT GUARD, which means I have to play him in my starting lineup!

So in reviewing my team my team looked like this;

PG Westbrook (!)
SG Wade, Roy
SF Johnson, McGrady, Williams, Young,
PF Garnett, O'Neal, Love
C Jefferson, Chandler, Oden

Seeing the obvious (I have way too many decent quality Small Forwards and what amounts to a black hole at Point Guard) I dealt Marvin Williams to the 'Rampage' for his backup PG Boston's Rajon Rondo.

Now Rondo was a guy I became familiar with last year. He was a mid-season pickup (thanks to injuries) who produced steady average production in assists, gave me weak offense, and excellent rebounding for the PG spot. However, after watching him in the playoffs with Boston it became pretty clear to me that Rondo - and not Ray Allen, was the third best player on the Celtics championship team. So dealing the one dimmensional Williams for him was a blessing.

All in all this trade infused me with real hope. If Rondo can be average or better at PG, I think I have the makings of a top end team. Jefferson is a top 3 center, Wade is a top 3 SG, Johnson is a top 5 SF, and Garnett is a top 3 PF, giving me a dominant starting four, and way above average starting five.

I've also made inquiries into whether or not Jose Calderon might be available, but so far the asking price is Al Jefferson and that doesn't make sense to me. As it stands I am hoping to see Gilbert Arenas hit the waiver wire so I can scoop the injured one up for nothing and stash him on my bench till the 2nd half of the season rolls around, where I will unveil him as my secret weapon for the stretch drive.

Last years mistakes (Yao, Kirilenko, Artest, Stephen Jackson) have all been avoided, with only Wade making another appearance on the team - and he does so only after we pick KG ahead of him, so if nothing else we seem to be improving at the GM level.

Go Skywalkers!

Quote of the Day

"Cheese crumbs spread in front of a copulating pair of rats may distract the female, but not the male". - Alfred Kinsey

Andrew Sullivan's Live blog of the Presedential Debates.

9.57 pm. Some readers seem to think my description of Obama as boring is meant as a criticism. Subjectively, maybe it doesn't give me a Lowry. But objectively, it's brilliant. The first black president will only get there by boring a lot of white people. And haven't we had enough drama in the last eight years? Boring is fucking awesome after Bush. " - Andrew Sullivan

(timeline starts at the bottom)

Toy Story meets The Dark Knight

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Quote of the Day

Discovered over at Marginal Revolution;

R: "I'm quite pessimistic about the current financial system. I've been buying gold."

A: "Gold? That's not pessimistic enough. I've been buying rice."

Picture of the Day

Click here for the link.

A Presidential Debate In One Minute

White Chocolate Retires

My favourite highlight is around the 1:30 mark where J-Will puts a brutal cross-over onto all-star defender Gary Payton and left him grasping at air.

On a side note, I really dig rap music without lyrics, case in point is how this instrumental version of 'T.R.O.Y' is infinitely better than the original.

Quote of the Day

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Obama vs McCain - the economy

The Atlantic has two political ads up, the first is Obama's plan for the economy, the second is McCain's.

After watching them who do you think is more serious about addressing the economic issues of the US?

(I'm looking at you Badrabbi...;-)

St. Germain Live

McCain as Rove

Here is what I think will be the watershed moment of the McCain campaign, the moment where if you will, he has jumped the shark.

Typically you see this kind of thrashing around with whatever lies you can muster only in the dying moments of a campaign - at the point where the fact that they aren't true has no time to enter the news cycle or penetrate the voters. But McCain's plan coming out of the Sarah Palin bounce (and soon to be 'thud' as she is revealed to be woefully inadequate as a 2nd in command) was simply to smear and smear again - which isn't a plan so much as an admission of defeat by other means. Even the typically stalwart right wing demagogues have found this level of sleaze in the McCain ads to be troubling.

Afterall, what does it say when Karl Rove thinks you've gone to far?

Mr Scruff - Get A Move On

Sarah Palin is Sean Avery

In Nate Silver's world, she's the fourth line agitator who takes the star player off their game by making it about her glove to the face rather than about scoring.

Silver's blog, FiveThirtyEight, is by far the best electoral projection coverage running.

For those of you have bets with me regarding Obama's margin of victory being greater or lesser than 15 electoral votes, I am standing by my revised bet and am willing to double down on Obama by 50+

Quote of the Day

"Jesus Saves. Everybody else takes damage. " - spotted on a U of L student's T-shirt.

Remember Kids...

....Steroids are BAD for you.

Riddle me this, who is the Batman?

This is a fan-created poster - but they have nailed it.

William Gibson's playlist

Or what cyberpunk Gods listen too.

How Allen Iverson wrecked the point guard position

An interesting look at how a variety of decisions (a new age restriction for the draft, focus on scoring from guards, the popularity of Allen Iverson, etc.), has created a new breed of more selfish point guard play at the college level.

A quest for the perfect pork martini

In world beyond revulsion, beyond reverse peristalsis, there lies the PORK MARTINI

Under no circumstances short of a million tax free dollars would I ever try this at home.

Here are some of my favourite quotes;

"The ground pork, which had never been very pretty to begin with, reminded me of some tumors I had seen at the Army Medical Museum at Walter Reed."

"The pork-infused vodkas were decanted from their glasses through a triple layer of cheesecloth into mixing glasses. This removed most pork solids, but no attempt was made to skim any oils present."

"The chilled Martini had a piggy bouquet beyond its plain pork-vodka aroma. Was that the endothermic effect of the chilled liquor alerting the nose, or the action of the herb-steeped vermouth? I sipped a little. No aftertaste or aftereffect beyond the expected tummy warmth. Little flavor at all, in fact. Dried meats would seem less than optimum."

(hat tip to AJ for the link)

Magic Up Close

Finally a Presidential Candidate who Republicans can embrace

Want a candidate in the Bush mold who is ;

Pro-Genocide?
Pro-Slavery?
For increasing executive power?

Well your candidate has arrived!

John Carpenter's 'The Thing' performed by the members of GI Joe!

The future of Star Trek

Star Trek Online Las Vegas Webcast from Cryptic Studios on Vimeo.

Picture of the Day

(click on image to enlarge)

"M87 is a massive elliptical galaxy smack in the heart of Virgo. It probably has something like a trillion stars, five times the number the Milky Way has. Over billions of years it’s built up its mass, eating the stars from other galaxies as they fly by (it also eats entire galaxies)."

and...

"The image there is of M87. Take a close look; just about every single point of light you see there is a globular cluster! The beam coming from the center is a blast of particles and radiation being emitted from M87’s central supermassive black hole (which is a whole ‘nuther story unto itself)."

Phil Plait - Bad Astronomer

Video of the Year

Fake Heinekken ad

Brain Magic

Mars Porn

Image of this frozen waterfall on Mars is courtesy of the European Space Agency, via I09

Graphing Devo

Link for more

I only laugh so I don't cry

Quote of the Day

"...if you had told any Republican in 1980 that 2008 would see (a) a Negro with an Arabic-Swahili name beating a veteran fighter pilot in the presidential polls and (b) gay marriage as the big cultural issue of the day, said Republican would have blown several gaskets. And if you had said that this would have been the result of an "Age of Reagan" said Republican would have melted down completely." 

- Brad De Long

RIP George

And of course;

Quote of the Day

"I refuse to be lectured on national security by people who are responsible for the most disastrous set of foreign policy decisions in the recent history of the United States. The other side likes to use 9/11 as a political bludgeon. Well, let’s talk about 9/11.

The people who were responsible for murdering 3,000 Americans on 9/11 have not been brought to justice."

They are Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda and their sponsors – the Taliban. They were in Afghanistan. And yet George Bush and John McCain decided in 2002 that we should take our eye off of Afghanistan so that we could invade and occupy a country that had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11. The case for war in Iraq was so thin that George Bush and John McCain had to hype the threat of Saddam Hussein, and make false promises that we’d be greeted as liberators. They misled the American people, and took us into a misguided war.

Here are the results of their policy. Osama bin Laden and his top leadership – the people who murdered 3000 Americans – have a safe-haven in northwest Pakistan, where they operate with such freedom of action that they can still put out hate-filled audiotapes to the outside world. That’s the result of the Bush-McCain approach to the war on terrorism"

- Barack Obama

I've been waiting for quite a while for someone to speak the obvious with such clarity. I was slow to get on board the Obama train, but this reaffirms for me that he is the perfect antidote to the insanity that was the neo-con agenda in Iraq and Afghanistan. More please.

The problem with magic and magicians

The Munich visit

"When Bush and John McCain use Munich to defend not talking to Iran, they misuse history. Neville Chamberlain's mistake wasn't that he flew to Munch and met with Hitler; it's that he gave away half of Czechoslovakia when he got there."

- Jonathan Alter

Quote of the Day

"Religion. It's given people hope in a world torn apart by religion."

Jon Stewart

Beware Asteroids