Stephane Dion Actually Solves Historic Problem

If you’re working in the OLO these days (that’s Official Opposition Leader’s Office by the way), you’re probably wondering if Stephane Dion wouldn’t be better off just to retire and go back to his accademic research that he did prior to running for Jean Chretien in the late 90s. Bluster after blumbling bluster have shown that Dion is not a natural politician, be it the Stephen Harper policy leader- type or the Pierre Trudeau charasma-type.

Today though the BBC is hosting a breaking story that might just prove once and for all that Dion has answered the wrong calling. According to the website, Dion’s former staff have continued the Liberal leader’s research that he was working on between 1994 and 1998 (when he ran for office) that investigates a new technique into how the Great Pyramid was constructed. Dion, who is a specialist in ancient systems of economics and engineering, proposed a radical theory that suggested that the pyramid was built from the inside-out, leading to this week’s dramatic discovery that an internal ramp was likely used to do just that! Dion hasn’t commented on the matter yet, but may I be the first to suggest that after losing the likely federal election later this spring, Dion could do no wrong in taking up his former project again! The full story can be read here!

Liberal Party Activists Censoring YouTube Videos Critical of Stephane Dion

It appears that YouTube user “liberalvideo” has been filing Copyright Infringement Notifications against videos that are critical of Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion. Two popular YouTube videos, one critical of Dion’s refusal to renounce his French citizenship, and the other, critical of the Liberals misuse of confidential materials, have been yanked from YouTube’s database.

If you attempt to look for these videos you’re met with the following:

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by liberalvideo

It is unclear whether this is an isolated incident or whether this is a new tactic being employed to quell any unfavorable coverage of the Liberal party leader and or the Liberal Party.

Update: Stephen Taylor has got a copy of the video on his site. Go watch the video and see if you can see any copyright infringement.

Update 2: The “misuse of confidential materials” video has been uploaded to YouTube again, lets see how long it stays up…

Make sure to Digg this story!

Problem Gambling: Another problem that Toronto doesn’t need

The Toronto Star:

Legalize all forms of gambling, including Internet wagering, and let the governments simply tax the proceeds.

It will mean far more money into the public purse, in the long run…

And far more money taken out to deal with the social problems that flow from large-scale gambling, as Alberta’s shameful experience with VLTs demonstrates:

A recent conclusion from eight studies re: the impact of gambling and VLTs presented to the city of Edmonton in response to a city counsellor’s request for this information (reported in the Edmonton Journal, 2-14-97) confirms other studies about the high social cost of gambling. It is estimated that in Edmonton alone, there are 3700 pathological gamblers, and another 10,000 problem gamblers. The social cost is estimated somewhere between $66M and $200M. Studies both in Alberta and outside estimate the social cost at between $2 and $5 for every $1 of gambling revenue. Furthermore, what kind of dollar figure can really be attached to a broken home or life?

The social costs don’t end there. With addiction and desperation comes crime.

AADAC studies show that each problem gambler affects eight to 15 other people — spouse, children, family, friends, employer, employees…Some people are demanding the “Freedom of Choice” and about an “individual’s rights and freedoms to gamble.” The problem is that when individuals mess up, the family and the community has to pick up the pieces and pay for the damages. The gambler’s money is gone.

Here’s a clue for the Toronto Star: Toronto is already a hellhole. Don’t introduce another aggravating factor.

h/t

The Right to Shoot You Dead: New Texas Gun Law

Criminals in Texas, you’ve been warned:

Governor Rick Perry’s office said on Tuesday that he had signed a new law that expands Texans’ existing right to use deadly force to defend themselves “without retreat” in their homes, cars and workplaces.[...]

The reasonable use of lethal force will be allowed if an intruder is:

- Committing certain violent crimes, such as murder or sexual assault, or is attempting to commit such crimes

- Unlawfully trying to enter a protected place

- Unlawfully trying to remove a person from a protected place.

The law also provides civil immunity for a person who lawfully slays an intruder or attacker in such situations.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but in Canada use of a firearm (or any type of deadly force) in self-defense will result in prosecution… Any lawyers out there want to confirm this?

Update: Shane pointed us to http://homeinvasion.ca -which does a fairly good job of highlighting the existing laws.

Canada: The Welfare Recipient Nation

Gag.

Cherniak-Dion Conference Call

So Dion held a conference call with a number of Liberal bloggers as selected by Jason Cherniak. Apparently, a list of those bloggers was posted by Cherniak then removed. Anyone happen to get a screen-cap of those names?

If so, I think Dion might soon find cause to regret this decision. Liberal bloggers have a tendency to stick their foots in their mouths (as do some Blogging Tories — I don’t mean this as a partisan slur), and Dion’s now foolishly linked himself rather closely to the next dumb comment.

For the record, I don’t think this practice of trying to tar candidates/parties with online comments made by people who may only be tangentially related to the party/candidate is a good thing. But it’s also not going away.

Politics for the Hearing Impaired/Telepathic

How is it that everyone knows what the Prime Minister is thinking?  How is it that even opposition party members, not even privy to internal Conservative communications and caucus meetings, know for certain that Mr. Harper is going to call an election?

I mean, the guy has said, “I don’t want a spring election” how many times to the media?  Are these people hearing impaired?  Should we start lobbying now for hearing aids for all members of the national media?

End rant.

Environment: Pulling a Gore-House on Harper

If that isn’t obtuse enough…

What I mean is, a few months ago, some enterprising reporters decided to see if Al Gore was a hypocrite in preaching global warming and the need for personal action.  They investigated his property and found out that it was a huge energy sucker – I believe the number was 20 times the average American residence in terms of power use.

So, an enterprising reporter in Canada decided to investigate 24 Sussex to see if the new “Green” Harper was being a hypocrite too.

Guess what?  24 Sussex uses a lot of power.

Is this comparable?  Not at all.  I mean, we are talking about the official residence of the Prime Minister.  He doesn’t even own the building.  The government operates it, and the building itself is what – a hundred years old?  These homes were not built for fuel efficiency.

Sure, the PM could undertake to get the government agency to update the home so that it is more energy efficient.  It should be noted that the cost to taxpayers would be probably in the tens of thousands (ever look into doing it for your own home?  Ours is only 15 years old and it would take about 10 grand for us!)  But keep in mind even if this is done, his costs will far outstrip the average Canadian home for no other reason than 24 Sussex is not just a residence, it is a museum and a national landmark with guided tours and the works.  It is also heavily secured.  I don’t think Mr. Gore conducts guided tours of his home.

So, ha ha, Star-Phoenix.  Very funny comparing Harper with Gore.  Now get over it and start checking out Stornaway to see what the Green Mr. Dion is doing to save energy.

Being a Conservative – More Then Just Rooting for the Team

Joel, from ProadtobeCanadian, lowers the boom on those who call themselves Conservatives, and behave like Liberals. Kathy, from Relapsed Catholic, follows suit with,

“Getting elected” means nothing unless we change the culture.

McCain Supports Gay Marriage? Early April Fools!

The McCain campaign learned a valuable lesson yesterday about hotlinking and stealing templates.

[The McCain Campaign] used a well known template to create his Myspace page. The template was designed by Newsvine Founder and CEO Mike Davidson. Davidson gave the template code away to anyone who wanted to use it, but asked that he be given credit when it was used, and told users to host their own image files.

McCain’s staff used his template, but didn’t give Davidson credit. Worse, he says, they use images that are on his server, meaning he has to pay for the bandwidth used from page views on McCain’s site.

Davidson decided to play a small prank on the campaign this morning as retribution. Since he’s in control of some of the images on the site, he replaced one that shows contact information with a statement: “Today I announce that I have reversed my position and come out in full support of gay marriage…particularly marriage between two passionate females.” Via: Out Side the Beltway

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