New site

It has been a while and because of many things, including helping on the campaign, it could end up being light or nonexistent, but this site is neat.

Block the carbon tax

Out of semi-retirement

Like him or hate him, supporting Ezra Levant in his "Human Rights Commission" fight is something all free people, left, right and centre, should do.

Belina leaves; a haiku contest breaks out

I'm sure we've all heard the news.

I can't say that I'm all that upset. The political scene in Canada always seemed that much worse when she was there--from curiously-timed floor-crossing to dog comments (yes, Peter said it, I think, but so what?)

There have been some funny comments about this (especially this one at Cherniak's site) but I most like RumbleStrip's idea of a haiku contest, even though he doesn't quite get the "haiku" part right. Brian Lemon sets him straight, though.

My entry:

Politics will not
Be the same without you there.
This is a good thing.

More Wowchuk upchuck

I missed talking about one part of the interview before.

"...in reality there was a very low voter turnout and 62% voting against the Wheat Board is not an accurate number."

So you deign to know what those who didn't vote would have said? You purport to know the minds of others?

Give it up, Rosanne. If the vote didn't go the way you wanted, say just that. But we live in a democratic society and it was a democratic plebiscite. Voter turnout was what it was. Deal.

Rosanne Wowchuk: choice denier

Recently, western Canadian farmers voted for freedom. A freedom already enjoyed by eastern Canadian farmers, BTW. Now, some people are screeching from the rooftops, "See! See! Farmers don't want to destroy the Wheat Board!" But of course when you read the actual results, you realize that what farmers want is choice. Choice to market their grain either with the WB or independently. 62% voted for that.

And then I was listening to CJOB and Kacey Wilson had on Rosanne Wowchuk, MB Agriculture Minister. NDP. And her responses made me wonder no more why the NDP, both provincially and federally, have no credibility.

(For the audio, click here and fast forward to 46:20.)

First off, she began by attacking the questions. That's right, don't accept the results;
attack the questions. Her quote: "...62% voting against the Wheat Board is not an accurate number...if you cancel out the flawed question which said 'do you want choice or maintaining the Wheat Board' in fact it was a very low percentage that said they wanted barley removed from the Canadian Wheat Board."

Then she goes on to be disingenuous about the will of the farmers:
"If you take out the flawed question and you just look at the results of the question 'do you want barley maintained under the Wheat Board?', those results far exceed the results that say 'remove barley from the Wheat Board'."

Yeah, ignore one of the questions. You think it's flawed, but I think it's perfectly legitimate. Do farmers want no CWB, CWB monopoly, or the CWB as an option? You could lump 2 questions together either way--say that 62.2% of farmers want the CWB not to be forced upon them (my take on it); or you could say that 86.2% of farmers want the CWB kept. (Of course, that last one ignores the fact that 48.4/86.2, or 56% of those who want to keep the CWB, want not to be forced to use it.) But I think it's clear: farmers don't want the CWB crammed down their throats. Oops. Western Canadians, as our eastern counterparts already have that choice. Funny, that.

Then, she completely blew away the argument (her own!) to keep the CWB: that with competition, the CWB wouldn't be able to compete. Uh, of course, haven't people been saying that if the CWB were good, it would be able to compete because it gets better prices?

"If the federal Minister is going to go to a dual-market system, he has to address the issues of infrastructure and how the Canadian Wheat Board will survive when they are in competition with buyers of grain."

And then:

"If he thinks that they can operate when they don't have an infrastructure system, no elevators, and no control on many things, I don't see how the Wheat Board can stay in barley marketing when they have to compete with the other people who have all the infrastructure."

I had a giant Whiskey Tango Foxtrot moment then. Is or isn't infrastructure already in place? And wouldn't free-market buyers create said infrastructure were it not in place? You know, to make things easier on farmers?

Oh, forsooth, howsoever did grain farmers ever make it without the hallowed Canadian Wheat Board?

Wake up, Wowchuk. The Wheat Board is hated by most farmers; most farmers want freedom to choose to whom they sell their grain. And it's obvious you don't. Sucks to be on the losing side, eh? You'll likely find that out in a big way later this year.

What's that sound?

It's the sound of a Liblogger destroying his credibility.

Partisanship aside

I have to echo some other Blogging Tories:


I'm a partisan and I can't say I like the man's politics, but I could never wish this on anyone.

Get well soon, Mr. Dosanjh.

David Keam, conservative?

I was listening to CJOB this afternoon when an ad for Best Sleep Centre came on.

Here's a link to the ad, but I don't know if it's a permalink. So i transcribed the good bits here:

"Hard enough to pay the rent this month for small business and our tired government wants to give us all a day off. According to them the planet is about to boil and they gather in a room {and} come up with, 'I know, a holiday! That will get us re-elected.'

...

It's the got to pay for the government's latest grand scheme event."

Is David Keam a conservative? It sounds like he's not a fan of the provincial NDP. Liberal? Maybe, but somehow I doubt it.

One more for our side.

I'm really glad I bought my bed there last year. Bravo, David Keam!

Don't they even attempt to appear impartial?

I was just watching Mike Duffy Live and they had a couple of commentators on, talking about the Mark Holland ordeal.

The commentators--Fife and some woman from the Red Star--both agreed, and I'm somewhat paraphrasing, that "it's good that he learned the lesson (to speak judiciously) now because he's going to be a rising star in the Liberal party."

In other words, they're glad he got his gaffe out of the way so that he gan go on to be a glorious frontrunner in the LPC (Lying Party of Canada).

Aren't they at least supposed to appear to be non-partisan? Fer cryin' out glayvin.

Robbed

On Monday, my house got broken into and robbed. They didn't take anything of sentimental value, just stuff that can be replaced.

I've been chewing on this for a couple of days because I was feeling a lot of things.

First, anger. How dare they?
Second, fear. What if it happens again?
Third, peace. Que sera sera.

I'm upset that they broke into my place and took the stuff for which I've worked so hard.
I'm scared now that I know that I'm vulnerable (but not stupid--an alarm system is going in before I replace the stuff).
I'm at peace because it wasn't me, specifically, that was targeted--there were a bunch of B&Es in the neighbourhood that day.

If they catch the thief/thieves, then whatever they get will satisfy me. Because I know that, whatever side of the spiritual spectrum you stand, after man's punishment, it'll be either a) God will take care of all that at some point, or b) my karma will run over their dogma (bad joke). In other words, I'm a live and let live kinda guy. If you steal my stuff, it's just stuff. But woe betide you when you get caught. Not if, but when.

The conservative in me agrees with the cop who came over to dust for fingerprints (there were none): the current sentences for such a crime are laughable, and regardless of what the screechers would say, it is a deterrent because, well, you can't rob someone if you're in jail. And if by robbing someone you risk a boatload of time in jail, I'd like to think it would make people reconsider a day job.

The compassionate person in me wants to reach out to the person/people and help them. Because they obviously need help--financial, emotional, whatever.

The twain are not mutually exclusive, BTW.

I got robbed. They took stuff. They left irreplaceable stuff. And they didn't take the most important thing: my principles, my dignity, or my sense of fairness.

Or my ability to write a rambling blog post. :P