I love finding things by accident. Below is an excerpt from Airshow's response to a petition to restore the "Royal" designation to the Canadian Navy and Air Force. Emphasis mine.Regarding the potential restoration of the "Royal" title, this matterhas been reviewed on many occasions with the interest and morale ofserving members of the Canadian Forces (CF) constantly in mind. Althoughthe CF has returned to environmentally distinctive uniforms to foster agreater sense of identity among its members, the Government intends topreserve the very real benefits of unification by retaining the currentorganization. The re-introduction of the titles of the former singleservices amalgamated to form the CF would be inappropriate, as it wouldnot reflect the true character of the CF.These distinctive designations were lost when the Pearson and Trudeau Liberals with Paul Hellyer being the minister most often blamed, eliminated the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Royal Canadian Navy…

A Chronicle Herald's opinion piece today intimates that resistance to Fox News North is tantamount to 'censorship'. It gives an approving nod to Ezra Levant and casts a dismissive eye towards FNN's critics, naming and selectively quoting them. Worse of all, the writer Mr. Schneidereit, uses Conservative talking points to make his point.A petition* is not censorship. Complaints from critics are not censorship. Those are part of the foundations of democracy. A government attempting to bully its media regulator into giving it a preferred spot is not democratic. The only thing sillier than the hand wringing over Sun Media from its detractors (like me) is the ignorance of its supporters like the hapless Mr. Schneidereit and the ignorant Ezra Levant. They are attempting to push Conservative talking points onto a complacent public using demagoguery and illusion.Let Fox News North do its thing as with any other new broadcaster, without fast tracking its applications or…

I’ve already begun with A Back-To-School Wishlist for Society and now that school is finally starting this morning it’s time to talk about parental advocacy and activism. Parents: you are the most fundamental advocate for your students. The BC Minister of Education, for instance, is not. Do not forget that this year, and not just [...]

In the spirit of increased collegiality and collaboration within the Canadian legal blogging community, LawisCool.com and TheCourt.ca have set aside their heated rivalry to bring you their first ever joint posting. What follows is a commentary on the interesting case of Piedra v. Copper Mesa Mining Corporation, 2010 ONSC 2421. Commentator for LawisCool.com: Omar Ha-Redeye, [...]

I’d freeze property taxes, Smitherman says - thestar.comSo, no mention of how he will pay for things if he is not going to raise any taxes. I seem to remember he had big expansion plans for the TTC that would be much more costly that the current Transit City plan. So, George will have to slash services. Please George, tell us that services you will slash.

Woke up this morning to find 493 messages in my spam filter, in addition to the 247 I deleted last night; there are 91 more as I’m writing. I know legitimate messages occasionally appear in the spam filter and I’m sorry if I have deleted yours — I love you all but reviewing 850-odd spam messages [...]

It's been awhile since I wrote anything about the goings on south of the border, though there are certainly a lot of interesting goings-on, even if its not necessarily good news for those that support progressivism and liberalism and general intelligence in government.Increasingly, the narrative in the US in the lead up to the November 2010 mid-terms is one of doom and gloom for the Democratic Party and its Congressional leaders. Whether its the 10-point lead the GOP racked up in the Gallup generic ballot only a week ago, or several (though admittedly generic ballot-based) projections that give the Republicans an extra 40-50 seats (they need 39 to gain control of Congress), or Nate Silver's prediction that 30 of 50 governorships in the US will be Republican-controlled (handing control of redistricting to them), it's just not a happy situation for the governing party, even if the GOP keeps tripping over its own feet.This downward slide from uber-majority to nearly-extinct status…

Le Devoir reported last weekend on plans to construct "ecoquartiers' on the edged of Quebec City, the provincial capital. The Montreal Gazette wrote about green development in Cologne. And real estate developer Devimco presented plans last week for a revised development in the Griffintown neighborhood of Montreal.The latter will be much smaller than the earlier commercial/residential project which was in part a victim of the 2008 financial meltdown, but also the target of much criticism. It would have fundamentally changed an old, grid-based area that had begun to be redeveloped in a piece-meal way with a huge shopping center-based area filled with apartment towers.Have the developers and the city of Montreal learned the lesson that small, green development is better? It's not clear. But take a look at the video that Devimco has posted on its website. It's a big contrast with what I've posted above, and you'll see that they are trying to talk the talk. It remains to be…

The Democrats are slumbering. They need a good kick in the pants. Besides many of the possible Republican victors in November are crazed fundamentalists with views, once they become obvious to an economically strapped and disillusioned public, that will open the eyes of those who voted them in. The tide will turn again back to the Democrats favour by the time 2012 rolls around.Then again, the big wins so far have been in the historically ignorant states of Alaska and Arizona. I don't really expect Sharron Angle in Nevada to overcome the extreme views she has expressed in the past. If she does defeat Harry Reid, that will surely be the last nail in the Republican coffin in 2012.The damage to the Dems may even be minimal but hopefully enough to put a fire in their bellies to turn around their complacency with another big presidential victory two years from now. So, I will not be discouraged by big GOP wins this year. It's all about 2012 and the Republicans current rise will be…

Explanation here.Same idea as this, but on a bigger scale.

Or, in a shorter word, lies. Hold your nose and read Levant's scrofulous column here, in a "newspaper" that recently called for the mass murder of Tamil refugees. Now read this good and proper debunking.As the article's hed says, "a prelude to Fox News North." Should cable companies be forced to carry this kind of thing?

We already know the National Post is aimed at the right wing, American republican-loving, conservative, anti-progressive markets in Canada. On the weekend we saw a shining example of the kind of delusion and hyperbole that is fit for the front page [albeit, below the fold] in a story about pregnant “illegal” Mexicans invading the USA: [...]

I always love listening to some bleating Harper follower tell us how well they manage the country's tax dollars. I particularly enjoy it when they're standing there in front of me because I get to watch their eyes do everything but connect with mine. Mostly they shift their gaze down and to the left.The latest example of abuse of your tax dollars and the Harper obsession with propagandizing is really no surprise. It is, after all, Harper.Civil servants across Canada were ordered by the Harper government to document every single sign posted anywhere promoting the federal economic stimulus plan, The Canadian Press has learned. They've spent countless hours tracking every one of more than 8,500 signs posted since last summer, when the urgent, weekly exercise was ordered by the Privy Council Office, the bureaucratic support arm of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office. It continues to this day.Of course, the Harperites will attempt to trivialize this or, worse, justify this…

The Conservatives believe the mandatory longform census was much too intrusive for Canadians good (and may also have provided much too much information for the Conservatives good), but when it comes to wasting the bureaucracy’s time on tracking how many Economic Action Plan signs are out there, this government spares no expense or person [...]

Well, I did it! I passed basic training, on August 26th I was on the parade square at St. Jean garrison in St. Jean sur Richelieu Quebec with 160 other graduates. Finally!!! It did take me a little longer than most, but I take solace in the fact that many my age never complete it. In fact a lot of people aren't able to get through no matter what their age, because it isn't easy.Let me give you a glimpse into a pretty typical day. At the recruitment centre and through the literature provided I was told that a typical day starts with getting up at 5 AM, I wish!!!Actually some mornings the first timing is 5 AM, having a morning jog isn't unusual and it usually starts at 5 AM. That means getting up, dressed in your PT gear(physical training, shorts and t-shirt) and formed up downstairs. After 30-40 minutes of jogging, push ups, sit ups, squats...its back upstairs, 5-10 flights (elevators are out of bounds) for a two minute shower and then getting changed for breakfast. Back…

Tony Blair is very unhappy. He had to cancel his London book signing because of the planned demonstrations against him for dragging Britain into the Iraq war. Tony Blair the poodle cries. Read the story here.

Ezra Levant. I had thought about something on a grander scale, such as "Wanker of the Millenium", but I'm fairly certain that the crew at Sun Media will find ways to equal or even surpass this particular load of wankery. I have confidence in them....

After more than two weeks, the stalemate in Australia is finally over with Julia Gillard getting three of the five indies plus the one Green to her side.   Her challenger, Tony Abbott, got only the other two "crossbenchers."So Gillard wins, but just barely, 76-74.   As usual it was money that did it -- she promised a roughly AUD 10 billion (CAD 9.5 billion) increase in transfer payments for health, education and the all-encompassing "infrastructure."   (Sound familiar, fellow Canadians?)   Mind you, Oz can afford to do it -- with a mass sale of assets during the 1990s the country has a debt load per capita about less than a quarter of ours, less than a tenth of the States.  But while I am glad she won, I don't like the idea of bribes no matter how constituted.With such a narrow margin, and with the usual attrition that occurs during any parliamentary term (death, illness, resignation -- any of which triggers a by-election), I give Ms…

A few more points on this story from yesterday, news of the big signage database that Harper is having eighteen government departments and/or agencies report to on the progress of installation of Economic Action Plan signs: "Bureaucrats ordered to track stimulus signage."The sheer number of pages turning up at CMHC alone on this issue alone seemed remarkable: More than 500 pages of CMHC signage documentation obtained by The Canadian Press — winnowed down from more than 3,000 pages generated between mid-October 2009 and mid-April of this year — include multiple reminders from PCO that the arms-length housing agency’s signage report must be submitted “every Monday by noon.” The PCO reminders are written in bold face and underlined. In the report, Gerard Kennedy is quoted as pointing out that the government hasn't tracked how many jobs have been created by the government, that all the signs (pardon the pun) point to this obsession with propaganda instead. That's kind of…