Tuesday digest

- If there was ever any doubt that Bill Maher was an asshole of the highest order, it's been completely erased. Meanwhile, we have John Kerry insinuating that the troops in Iraq are pretty much there because they are too stupid to do anything else. Clearly, both of these guys have had better moments.

Here in the Great White North, it hasn't been a banner day for those on the right as Norman Spector exposes himself as a knuckle-dragger. Almost as bad is a Tory cabinet minister's suggestion that the state should have the final say on rates of pay in private workplaces in the name of "equality".

This is social engineering of the highest order - the type which we should expect from the likes of Olivia Chow, not so-called conservatives.

- And a big thumbs up today to the Royal Ottawa Foundation, which, by opening a new facility yesterday six weeks ahead of schedule, on budget and built entirely with private financing, has brought together two causes that are near and dear to my heart: mental health and fiscal sanity.

Monday digest

- Can you IMAGINE the nutty conspiracy theories about voting fraud that we'll be subjected to should the GOP hang on to the House and Senate next week?

- Ottawa's Tulip Festival has gone belly-up.

What's the over/under on how many hours before Muntiarelli pledges support for a bailout?

- Hat tip to Fred for this one: looks like Manitoba's smoking ban may not be applicable to aboriginal-owned establishments as the NDP provincial government is arguing that doing so would disadvantage native-run casinos, for example. Moreover, the favourite policy instrument of Trudeaupians, the Charter, is being cited as the rationale for this appeal as under section 15(2), the right to redress for historical grievances is formalized as a constitutional right for certain disadvantaged groups.

What a mess.

- A look at the riots in France, here.

- And finally, what gives heart to the terrorists in Iraq, here.

Book Review: "Brodeur: Beyond the Crease" by Martin Brodeur and Damien Cox

Four-time Cup finalist. Three-time champion. Two-time Vezina winner. Olympic gold medallist. The picture of poise, professionalism, stability and consistency. And now, author, recounting his youth in the Montreal suburb of St. Leonard in a French-Canadian sporting family up through his highs and lows in the NHL as a member of the New Jersey Devils and various incarnations of Team Canada. Toronto Star columnist Damien Cox helps Marty put pen to paper as he discusses what it's like working for one of the biggest hard asses in pro sports in Lou Lamiorello, playing in the shadow of the New York Rangers, being served with divorce papers when he was down 3 games to 2 during the 2003 Eastern Conference semis, the Bertuzzi incident, the 2004-2005 lockout, what led him to sign a self-negotiated six-year deal last spring, and being a Quebecer and a Canadian at the same time while playing a game which is perhaps the one thing that has kept our country united over the last fifty years.

Dirt? There's a bit. Patrick Roy is the jerk we all thought he was, Marc Crawford was in over his head as coach in Nagano in 1998, and Dominik Hasek is just odd. For two guys who played together for so long and achieved so much success together, Scotty Stevens and Marty are not particularly close. (On the other hand, my boy Kenny Daneyko comes off as probably Marty's best buddy in hockey.)

He also thoroughly examines the game on and off the ice, offering his perspective on how to make it more marketable and entertaining while maintaining an ambivalent stance about the role of the players' union.

All in all, nothing spectacular, but this is a great book for a day of travel, lazing on the beach or in front of the fire at home on a Sunday afternoon with football on in the background.

And if I ever get another Devils sweater, you can bet that the number #95 with the name "PUDDY" is going on the back. You know, support the team.

Overall rating: 7/10

Sunday digest

- As terrorists in Iraq have enjoyed their most successful month yet, how far off the mark is that mock ad? Newsweek suggests that the terror organization may try to influence the upcoming US congressional elections through either an attack on American interests overseas or the issuance of another taped message.

Does anyone wonder which party Osama and friends would like to see control the House and Senate (notwithstanding the quiche-eating performance of the GOP on fiscal and social policy, of course, in between desperate, ill-advised moves such as this)?

In other related news, al-Qaeda has issued a warning to Canada designed to intimidate us into taking a cut and run stance in Afghanistan.

It won't work, despite Jack Layton's efforts to the contrary, which apparently include tagging the Prime Minister as a war-monger.

- Dalton McGuinty's Ontario Liberals hired former Clinton strategist James Carville to come and address a recent party gathering for a cool 50K. No doubt the NDP are going to bring this to the floor of the Legislature as they do whenever American political operatives are brought northward by right-leaning organizations. (Speaking of Clinton, I'm not quite sure how his ego is going to handle this).

- Impotence, ignorance and political correctness: the tragedy of the United Nations.

- Good to see that Iran is getting the attention it deserves somewhere (if not in the sex scandal-obsessed mainstream media) because it is they who are behind the anti-Western violence in Iraq and elsewhere across the Middle East.

Book Review: "Truman" by David McCullough (1993)

I decided to tackle this 1000-page, Pulitzer Prize winning biography of Harry Truman because many commentators of either political persuasion are now comparing the current President with the man from Independence, Missouri (see here and here for two examples).

In exhausting fashion, McCullough takes us through Truman's unremarkable childhood in the Midwest through his service in World War I and his failure as a clothier in the 1920s. From there, his ascension to the US Senate and his steady yet far from exceptional record in that body is retold as is Truman's place in the jockeying for the vice-presidency alongside the megalomaniacal FDR in 1944, which led to his installation as President upon FDR's death in spring 1945, a ordinary man unexpectedly thrust into a position of extraordinary global leadership. This is where "Truman" becomes valuable, as the Potsdam conference with Churchill and Stalin is described as are the decisions leading to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as central moments in modern Western history such as the Marshall Plan, the creation of Israel, the McCarty investigations, and the Korean War.

Throughout it all, the plain-spoken, likable, everyman Truman stayed firm despite numerous obstacles: his many detractors in the press, other world leaders (like Churchill) who were at times outwardly dismissive of him, public approval ratings which fell as low as 23%, an uncertain war in a far-off land (Korea), enemies who trafficked in innuendo and paranoia (McCarthy), and a lack of a clear heir to his legacy from within his own party all within the shadow of his predecessor to inarguably become one of the top five (if not top three) Presidents of the 20th century as he mobilized America to confront a new and ambitious threat to the free world in the form of Communism.

The values of Truman were the best values of America: loyalty, fidelity, conviction, steadfastness, persistency, humility and courage. Certainly, he's one of the best Democrats - and democrats - the country has ever known. Frankly, however, "Truman" isn't one of the best pieces of political journalism I've ever read, and I'd recommend that only the truly determined endeavour to read this one from cover to cover, as it's probably more suitable for dipping in to. That being said, it doesn't take away from the fact that it's entirely illustrative of how the subject was so intregral to how the world has evolved over the last 60 years.

Overall rating: 8/10

Friday digest

- Why is it that Ottawa mayoral front-runner Alex Munter feels the need to place his signs at twenty feet intervals on every thoroughfare across the city? As my wife says, if he's going to waste this kind of money on signage, how is he going to spend our tax dollars?

Incumbent Bob Chiarelli isn't much better when it comes to reminding us at a rate of about 5 times per kilometre driven that he is running for office once again.

As for Larry O'Brien, he had my vote sewed up until yesterday, when it was revealed that when asked on Wednesday who the mayor of Gatineau was, he was unable to answer. Then, on Thursday, he was asked again and he STILL couldn't answer.

Very sloppy.

- While on the issue of government advertising, why is the Royal Canadian Mint promoting itself on the backstop during Canadian World Series broadcasts? What is that supposed to do, make me run out and purchase a collector's edition of nickels and dimes commemorating the '76 Olympics or something?

- Riots have started again in France. This editorial makes a convincing case that a law-and-order line against the miscreants will only be a half-measure if France's overly rigid labour market is not reformed to allow for new arrivals to more fully participate in the French economy.

Thursday digest

- In the opinion of a leading Muslim cleric from Oz, if you're a woman who doesn't cover your head, you're inviting sexual assault. In the past, this same cleric has also suggested that sleeveless apparel on women is "satanical".

I've often wondered about what the majority of Muslims in the West, who are led by such individuals, really think about our society and culture. This is another example of the need for "moderates" to demonstrate that they are, in fact, moderate by speaking out against such nonsense instead of bullying individuals like this Swedish legislator of Somali origin into submission for daring to engage in frank, against the grain discussion.

- On that note, one woman's experience with the veil, here.

- A look at how a coup in Iran could proceed, here.

- Why is the Canadian Ambassador to the US wasting his time with this? It doesn't deserve to be taken seriously. Protesting a ridiculously partisan Senate attack ad from Tennessee of all places makes us look like the snivelling younger sibling who so desperately wants the seal of approval from the big bro rather than the proud and independent nation we are (or at least, should aspire to be).

- Finally, thumbs up to Justin Trudeau today for urging Quebecers to get over their provincialism and stop looking inward for a change. Shades of Michaelle Jean's "briser les solitudes" plea, which I'm all for. If one looks beyond le fleuve St. Laurent, there's a big ol' world out there.

Wednesday digest

- Much ado about Rush Limbaugh accusing Michael J. Fox of insincerity in his Missouri campaign ad. Whether he went off his meds to amp up his Parkinson's affliction or not, Limbaugh is the last one to be commenting on people's use of prescription drugs. Much like Ann Coulter, that haggy old coug who I'm sure is one of the loneliest, most unhappy women on Earth, Limbaugh's plain meanness does his cause a disservice.

It's one thing to be clever, yet quite another to be cruel.

- VDH is right on the money with the following observations about Islamists and their sympathizers, here:

It is difficult in history to find any civilization that asks as much of others as does the contemporary Middle East—and yet so little of itself. If I were to sum up the collective mentality of the current Arab Middle East—predicated almost entirely on the patriarchal sense of lost “honor” and the rational calculation to murder appeasing liberals and appease murdering authoritarians— it would run something like the following:

(1) We will pump oil at $3 and must sell it over $50 — and still blame you for stealing our natural treasure.

(2) We will damn your culture and politics, but expect our own to immigrate in the thousands to your shores; upon arrival any attempt to integrate Muslim immigrants into Western pluralistic society will be seen as Islamaphobic.

(3) Send us your material goods, whether machine tools, I-pods, or antibiotics. We desperately want them, but will neither make the necessary changes in our own statist, authoritarian, religiously intolerant, tribal, and patriarchal culture to allow us to produce them ourselves, nor will show any appreciation for the genius of others who can do what we cannot.

(4) We ostensibly wish you to stop the killing of Muslims by ourselves and others—Milosevic murdering Kosovars, Saddam destroying Kuwaitis, Kurds, and Shiites, Russians killing Afghans and Chechnyans—but should you concretely attempt to do so, we will immediately consider your intervention far worse than the mayhem caused by others or ourselves.

(5) Any indigenous failure in the Arab Middle East will eventually be blamed on the United States or Israel.

(6) Your own sense of multiculturalism must serve as an apology for our own violent pathologies, that can only be seen as different from, never worse than, your own culture.

(7) We must at all times talk of anti-Americanism and why we want you out of the Middle East; you must never become anti-Arab or anti-Muslim, much less close your borders to our immigrants and students.

(8) We will tolerate and often defend those who burn churches, ethnically cleanse Jews from our cities, behead priests, kill nuns, and shoot infidels as the necessary, if sometimes regrettable, efforts of our more zealous to defend Islam. But if any free spirit in the West satirizes Islam, we will immediately demand that Western governments condemn such blasphemy — or else!

(9) Material aid—billions to Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, or the Palestinians—is our entitlement. Any attempt to curtail it is seen as an assault on the Arab nation.

(10) We are deathly afraid of nuclear Russia, China, and India who have little tolerance for either Islamism or terrorism, and so will ignore their felonies, while killing you for your misdemeanors.

- On that note, I can't believe that the former ruler of the department of non-white, non-male and non-anglophone affairs within the Canadian government is now calling on Muslim women to shed the veil. Not very Trudeaupian of her, I must say. She would never have said this while in office.

- Another reason why the NYT is losing prestige: Paul Krugman.

Tuesday digest

- According to an Ontario Superior Court judge, the right to plot mass murder of innocent civilians in the name of political, religious or ideological grievance is guaranteed by the Canadian Constitution.

I don't think the FLQ-busting Pierre Trudeau had that freedom in mind when he conceived the Charter.

- Today's loony left play of the day comes from NDP MP Dawn Black, who, in arguing for higher standards of decorum in Parliament, typically went way too far and undermined her own credibility by uttering the following:

"There's a basic disdain of women in politics, still, by many members," said Black. "When women get up to speak there's a look of anger in the faces of many men in the House of Commons."

She can't be serious.

A look of ... anger?!?

More here.

- As Gilles Duceppe promotes his fantasy of achieving a seperate Quebec in less than ten years, Brigitte Pellerin points out how refusing to recognize the power of incentives is what has castigated Sweden on the St. Lawrence to third-class status economically. On that note, this article is highly critical of central planners left and right.

- A look from Down Under at the limits of multiculturalism, here. The question for me is this: at what point should freedom of religion take a back seat to assimilation? For me, the answer is somewhere between the veil and genital multilation.

- North America bailing Europe out again? Hey, why not? It's a great idea, on paper, anyways, but no European government would want to play ball with this White House on trade unless they had a death wish politically. I could see steps being taken towards a US/EU free trade agreement under either McCain or Hilary, though, especially if the (wrongheaded) protectionist crowd led by Lou Dobbs quiets down.

Monday digest

- On Saturday night, I went to a Hallowe'en party. The music was pretty good, but it got me to thinking about some of the songs that I wish would be banned, for once and for all, from being played at (but not limited to) any of the following: weddings, stag and does, or parties of any occasion, for that matter. These are some that come to mind, and please feel free to add your own in the comments section:

* Grease Lightning
* Paradise By the Dashboard Light
* Brown Eyed Girl
* Love Shack

In my view, any so-called DJ who fires up these tracks needs to be forbidden by law from ever touching the controls of an amplifier ever again.

There. I just had to get that off my chest. I feel better now.

- Love him or hate him, you have to respect this man.

- Great article here about how raising the minimum wage just screws the unemployed.

- Two more very good contextual pieces about the veil debate, here and here.

- The New York Times' ombsudman, Byron Calame, has admitted a number of mistakes in the paper's coverage of the wiretapping program from June of this year. Among the errors: the program is, well, legal; personal information was not misused; and appropriate oversight indeed exists. What's troubling is that Calame still doesn't recognize that national security was potentially compromised by publication of the program. This refusal to limit one's own journalistic freedoms for the greater good in times of war is just flat out wrong. However, we can take heart in that Calame asks his adoring fans to forgive him, as his heart was in the right place, defending the world from the tyranny of ... BUSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Live Review: Storm Large and the Balls, Thirsty Toad Pub, Ottawa, ON, October 21, 2006

Rocktober continued yesterday with another show in the "Party Like a Rockstar" series put on by Ottawa's Thirsty Toad Pub. This time, it was a wind from the Pacific Northwest that blew in as Storm Large and a couple of her bandmates, the Balls, played an afternoon show under a tent with about 400 of her newest friends. (I know at least one - and perhaps both Balls in attendance yesterday - used to be in the 90s alt-pop band Everclear.)

Yesterday's show could have quite possibly been the best live performance I've ever seen by a female vocalist. You know "The Great Gig in the Sky" on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" album? This was it with lots of dirty jokes and off the wall cover tunes thrown in.

Storm first appeared to sing Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" with openers The Sam Hill Band at the end of their set, coming back after a quick equipment tune up with a version of Chicago's "25 or 6 to 4" followed by some big-time voice gymnastics set to the Star Trek theme. Then, her and her band laid the lyrics and melody of the Eurythmics' "Missionary Man" over top of "Enter Sandman"'s riff, did the same thing with "Tainted Love" over the aforementioned Everclear's "Santa Monica", and Abba's "Take A Chance On Me" over Iron Butterfly's "In A Gadda Da Vida". No American Idol reject here.

She also performed a lounge version of Black Sabbath's "N.I.B.", a pychotized "Hopelessly Devoted to You" by Olivia Newton-John, a couple of Halen tunes ("Ain't Talkin' Bout Love" and "You Really Got Me") as well as Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" (sheer, chilling brilliance) with The Sam Hill Band and a Pixies tune about the Caribbean that I didn't recognize before launching into her original tune titled "Ladylike".





And not only can she sing, the girl is damn funny. She did a breakup tune called "I Want You To Die" that makes Adam Sandler's ode to the ex from the Wedding Singer look like child's play. She also took some solid potshots at vegetarianism and expressed much love for Canada (not only because of health care but for also our above-average attractiveness).

The one complaint that I have is that the bulk of her tunes were played with only keys and bass accompaniment. I would have liked to hear a little more guitar work, but that's just me. I'm sure no one went home disappointed, though, and she better mean it when she says she'll be back to Ottawa.

Pure entertainment, and if what we saw yesterday is any indication, I think that for some of the talent we saw this summer on "Rock Star: Supernova", not getting chosen for the gig was probably the best thing that ever happened to them becaues they wouldn't have been able to spread their wings and bring their own vibe to us. Storm Large is the real deal - no pretense, 100% humble, loves what she does, and just as beautiful as you imagine her to be.

Although I'm not going to make the Ryan Star show on November 4 or the Lukas/Gilby/Dilana/Josh show on November 11, I'll be at the Toby Rand gig in early December for sure, so check back for a review of that show.

Overall rating: 8.25/10

Bonus YouTube footage here.

Saturday digest

- I have to agree with this editorial which states that Hillary Clinton's position on the legality of torture is much more thought-out than John McCain's. I have long suspected that McCain doesn't care about logical consistency as long as it means a few headlines and pats on the back from independents.

- Tony Blair is walking a very delicate line these days. While I fully support him going to bat for the women of Islam, and I do believe that the veil is not only a barrier to effective interpersonal relations in addition to equality, I also don't think it's the place of the leader of a pluralistic, Western nation to come as close as Blair has in suggesting what people should and should not wear. (I did have the word "free" in that sentence before the world "people", but let's face it, a lot of Muslim women are far from free. However, I digress.) I'm a proud assimilationist when it comes to putting one's adopted country first ahead of the one they left behind - you find any sympathy for Lebanese dual citizens wanting a bailout during wartime here - but it's not right for leaders of free countries to go around telling people how to dress even if some choices of dress don't reflect mainstream standards of appropriateness. In other words, if they want to close themselves off from the mainstream, that's their choice because that's one of the priveleges that comes with liberty. And, perhaps as this commentator suggests, letting absorption take its course rather than stoking the fires of rebellious teen and twenty-something Muslims may be the best solution for long-term cohesion anyways.

- Turning inwards, a look at the sandbox called Ottawa shows it turns out senior Liberal members of Cabinet such as Martin Cauchon and Don Boudria were tipped off about the sponsorship scandal as early as 2002.

Absolutely scandalous.

Pols who knew about the Liberal party kickback scheme and did nothing about it while wrapping themselves in the Canadian flag to "defend Canada" should be put on trial for contempt of Parliament.

- The NDP: what's the point?

- Meanwhile, we have Canada's face to the world here, acting like a spurned teen in our seat of government.

What an embarassing farce of a man.

I never, ever liked him.

Friday digest

- SI's 21 biggest sports brawls of all time, here. (Sadly, the Nordiques-Habs Good Friday fight from the mid-80s isn't included. No doubt the Quebec bureau of Sports Illustrated was away covering Expos spring training at the time.)

- This hasn't been a good week for the federal Conservative party. First, a poll is released showing them virtually tied with the leaderless Liberals. Then, they kick Garth Turner out of caucus, which is clearly more trouble than it's worth. The Clean Air Act, introduced yesterday, is basically a whole lot of nothing - "a plan is coming!" - for environmentally-minded voters, a growing sector of the Canadian public. (Although palatable to skeptics of Kyoto like me, politically, this thing has failture written all over it.) And now, the Foreign Affairs Minister has demonstrated a complete lack of class.

It's pretty tough to get really excited about this bunch.

- North Korea tells China they're "sorry" for testing nukes but then hold a rally in Pyongyang with over 100,000 people to celebrate.

Kim Jong-Il is clearly a farce. If I was China, I'd cut him off if for nothing else than that he drags down Beijing's prestige.

- Then, we have this guy. Sabre-rattling? I don't know, but it's long past time for a good ol' coup.

- In a three-part series, Investor's Business Daily asks if the national media are doing their jobs well (see here, here and here). On that note, a very interesting interview with talk-radio host Larry Elder puts forward the observation that ignorance of the fundamental truth of supply and demand led to the demise of Al Franken's "Air America". Meanwhile, Peter Hitchens, Christopher's brother, weighs in on conservative caricatures here:

I have just taken a phone call from a radio station wanting to discuss Muslim veils. What did I think? You can guess. My views were rejected by the show's producer as being 'too reasonable’. Here's the rule. Moral, social and political conservatives can generally only get on the BBC if they can be cast as extremist monsters, perched on the extreme end of the panel and 'balanced' by a presenter who pretends to be neutral and isn't, and at least three other panelists who disagree with them. BBC bias? Whoever would say there was such a thing?

There's also an interesting contrast between what liberal conformists think I believe, and what I actually do believe. Generally, they think they know, but haven't taken the trouble to find out, so are often wrong. So I talk myself out of quite a lot of broadcasting by foolishly explaining my position, rather than waiting till I am in front of the microphone.

- Finally, according to the Montreal Economic Institute, Quebec's much-lauded $7-a-day government babysitting program both costs almost double the Canadian average for daycare across Canada in real terms (who's paying for THAT bill, I wonder?) and also is most beneficial to families with household incomes of over 60K per year.

What? A massively subsidized and inefficient social program that disproportionately benefits Quebec's upper-middle class?

You don't say!

Thursday digest

- A couple of great pieces on the economy, here and here. One of the things I love about capitalism is that things just keep gettin' better and better and better.

- This guy is bang on. One of the telltale signs that North America is moving back towards a Sept. 10 mentality is apathy.

- I have a hard time believing that some hardcore NDPers think that this contender for the post of Liberal leader wasn't socialist enough during his time as Ontario's premier.

Live Review: Alice Cooper/The Sins, Cornwall Civic Complex, Cornwall, ON, Tuesday October 17, 2006

Not be deterred by the driving rain here in Eastern Ontario, my pal Goggles Pizzano and I headed an hour and a bit out of town Tuesday night to check out American rock legend Alice Cooper, one of the last remaining artists on my "need to see live before I die" list (only AC/DC is left).

Alice was inexplicably playing this town of 45,000 souls in between gigs this fall opening up for the Stones in Halifax and Phoenix, and generally speaking, the less than capacity crowd (maybe 2,000 people, and that's being on the generous side) didn't really know how to react, but for the Coop, it could have been the Joe in Detroit on the Nightmare '75 tour as he didn't let up and proved exactly why more than 30 years after his heyday, he is still a household name, playing gigs where the average age of the ticketholder is less than that if last night is any indication.

The sword stacked with dollar bills, the crutch, the straitjacket, the top hat, and of course, the guillotine all made appearances as did classics like "Is It My Body", "Billion Dollar Babies", "Be My Lover", "Only Women Bleed", "I Never Cry", "Eighteen", "Under My Wheels", "No More Mr. Nice Guy", and of course, "School's Out". A personal favourite from 1976 titled "Go To Hell" also received an airing, a song which contains some of the funniest lyrics I've ever heard:

You're something that never should have happened
You even make your Grandma sick
You'd poison a blind man's dog and steal his cane
You'd gift wrap a leper
And mail him to your Aunt Jane
You'd even force-feed a diabetic a candy cane
You can go to Hell.

Now that's poetry, folks.

Although his voice, never his best asset, is sounding a little rough, newer material like "Woman Of Mass Distraction", "Lost In America", "Dirty Diamonds" and "Feed My Frankenstein" fit in really well alongside the classics and the band was also more than adequate with members of Brother Cane on guitars and KISS' Eric Singer on the skins. Even Alice's daughter (didn't catch her name) played the role of the nurse during the asylum scene prior to Alice's beheading as a medley of tunes from "Welcome To My Nightmare" provided the soundtrack.

My only complaints were that his tongue-in-cheek ode to necrophilia, "Cold Ethyl", was omitted from the set list, and no boa constrictors came out to play. It would have also been better if a more credible band like Nashville Pussy would have opened rather than The Sins, who looked and sounded like they just won second place during the battle of the bands competition at a local high school.

I give Cooper a hell of a lot of credit for bringing a little escapism and good ol' riffage to places across North America that don't often get to hear it.

Oh yeah, and "Poison" was part of the encore.

How can you resist that?

Overall rating: 9/10

Wednesday digest

- Who can be against three-time, three-time, three-time violent offenders being dealt with in a manner whereby they are not a threat to re-offend for a fourth time?

- I also couldn't help but notice the CBC's coverage of the "over-representation" of aboriginals in Canadian prisons the other night. While the report suggested that the number of incarcerated aboriginals jumped significantly between 1996 and 2004, they didn't compare it against the number of crimes committed by that segment of the population. The discrimination, racism, and cultural imperialism argument implied by the CBC would be tighter if it was shown that the group in question is NOT committing more crimes but is nevertheless finding itself more likely to be imprisoned as compared to the larger population.

I'm not sure if stats on offenses are kept for race, but if they aren't, the "over-representation" argument holds no water.

- It's encouraging when a member of the Quebec establishment blows the lid off of Sweden-on-the-St.-Lawrence but troubling when a so-called Conservative sounds like a liberal and a Liberal sounds like a conservative (see here).

- It's also good to see a leader who's not afraid to stick up for the rights of Muslim women, even if riots will inevitably ensue.

- Bill Clinton argues for a ready-fire-aim approach to torture, and the silence from the usual quarters is quite deafening.

- Free speech takes a hit in San Francisco as a radio host is in hot water for questioning the wisdom of producing a child via a non-romantic relationship between a gay man and a lesbian woman. While the forces of tolerance are screaming bigotry and demanding that he be fired, others take a more clear-eyed view of the situation.

I also have to wonder why city managers are butting in, but that's typical of the big-city liberal municipal pol without enough to do, I suppose, except to play thought cop.

- As the US' population nears 300 million, it's informative to look back at the dire predictions of central planners and look forward to more innovative, market-based solutions at helping those in poor countries.

- Finally, it's time for China to get in the game.

Monday digest

- Things have been quiet here for the last few days because, as this columnist points out, things have been just too silly to comment on, not the least of which is Prime Ministerial aspirant Bob Rae skinny dipping with Rick Mercer.

Speaking of silly, could we be seeing the end of Hugo's day in the sun?
- So it WAS a nuke.

Even at that, I have a hard time caring.

- From the "you can't put lipstick on a pig" file, we have Iraq. I'm starting to wonder if history will treat the idea of nation-building in the Middle East in the same way that we treat the failed promises of socialism - delusional, starry-eyed and ultimately, foolish. A look at one small element of the issue, troop numbers, here and here, as "Jimmy Baker" (love it) suggests that the war in Iraq is unwinnable. In the end though, I think it's still premature to call it a completely lost cause because no one knows what the hell is REALLY going on.

- I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of gay marriage because its natural extension is genderless parenting, a concept that I think is foolhardy at best (hey, who needs fathers?) and dangerous (militant, man-hating lesbians and feminist academics who see the nuclear family as an oppressive, archaic institution, come on down!) at worst. However, some conservatives make a case for gay marriage that I think deserves a fair hearing.

Also, one has to wonder about, say, gay parents who desire to adopt a child from Africa. It would be the height of stubbornness not to allow a child from the Third World the chance to live a life in a country like Canada or the US just because their adoptive parents would be gay, especially considering we have straight parents like Madonna and her husband who do the same thing but for more cynical reasons.

It's not politically correct to say it, but personally, I believe right down to my very core that the best foundation on which to raise a child is two loving parents of the opposite sex within a committed and stable relationship. I also think that aspiring to anything else as a society is doing a disservice to that child even though other forms of family with lots of excellent parents out there may exist (and yes, I realize the horses are way out of the barn, so to speak). That being said, even if gay marriage can't, by definition, be procreative in nature, intellectually there are cases like the one I cited above where gay parenting is preferable. However, it's when society openly endorses a structure that downplays or ignores the importance of gender roles within parenthood that I think things are likely to go awry. In any case, the debate is over in Canada, for better or for worse, and so it's academic anyways.

- Ah, the good ol' campus left never fails to disappoint, does it? More here.

- On that note, the most tasteless woman in America, here.

(I hope she was joking.)

- Finally, a former Chretien-era cabinet minister and caucus chair is now fighting the good fight for the payday loan industry. You know, the ones who charge about 40% interest and are disproportionately used by the less fortunate and underprivileged to make ends meet?

Liberal values, indeed.

Friday digest

- That's the Korean Peninsula. Note the difference: the bottom portion is a liberal, capitalist democracy, while the top part operates under the principles of socialism.

While explaining the picture, Donald Rumsfeld said, "(E)xcept for my wife and family, that is my favourite photo".

(Say what you want - even that Cheney probably doctored the thing, right, Far Left? - but Rummy is a quote machine!)

- They can sure dish it out, but they can't take it very well, can they? Lots of outrage over these comments by the Prime Minister after frontrunner for the leadership, Michael Ignatieff, kowtowed to both Quebec and the Hezbollah wing of the Liberal party by accusing Israel of committing war crimes this summer.

Liberals have demonized small-c conservatives for years on issues relating to Canada-US relations, health care, immigration, same-sex marriage, and the like. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, they don't like to hear the same kind of accusations and insinuations. I suggest they look in the mirror because turnabout is fair play.

In related news, the wife of a former Justice minister has quit the party over this, so perhaps Harper's comments aren't just bluster.

- Speaking of "it looks good on ya", Air America is now officially bankrupt.

Even though I disagree with him politically, and quite strenuously at that, perhaps if Al Franken's political commentary was actually funny, things would have worked out for the star of "Stuart Saves His Family".

On the other hand, thank God for Mark Steyn.

Album Review: "Continuum" by John Mayer (2006)

John Mayer fails to live up to the promise of his excellent 2003 sophomore effort "Heavier Things" on this disappointing release. The songs are weaker, blander, and demonstrate less artistic growth than I had hoped for. Perhaps hanging around Jessica Simpson explains Mayer's loss of creative spunk and his turn towards inoffensive and forgettable Jewel-esque adult contemporary, but this quite frankly is music for Sunday dinner with the in-laws and is sadly worth little more than that.

The only bright spots, despite their hokey titles (and I'm a country music fan!), are "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)" and "Slow Dancing In a Burning Room".

Keep your expectations in check if you're going to take a flyer on this one because it doesn't deliver.

Overall rating: 4.5/10

Thursday digest

- My pal Dave over at the Parking Lot takes issue today with one of the most egregious forms of social sloppiness known to mankind today: shop talk.

I couldn't agree more.

No one cares about your workplace anecdotes. What you do to earn a living is really of no issue to anyone else because you're not that important. And don't throw names into the conversation that I've never heard before assuming I know them, because I don't.

Typical conversations about the workplace (with those who you don't work with) should go like this:

"How's work?"
"Meh. It's up and down, just like anything, you know?"
"Yep, I know."

Or:

"Things OK at work these days?"
"Ah, busy, you know."
"But you're hangin' in there?"
"Yup, hangin' in there. Got no choice, really."
"Yup, ain't that the goddamn truth."
"What can you do, ya know?"
"Yeeep, what can ya do."

And then it's time to move on, because that's all really anyone cares to acknowledge about the daily grind when you get right down to it.

Now, career is a different story. Discussing career issues with a trusted counselor is very rewarding and can deepen friendships and bonds between people, especially men, because careers are a reflection of goals and values. But when it comes to the day-to-day ins and outs of the 40-hour week? We all live it, we all tolerate it to varying degrees, and we all know exactly what is talking about when the ceremonial post-work brewski is referred to as "just a little something to take the edge off".

It's time that we recapture the lost art of knowing when to leave certain mundane topics where they are best dealt with and that's in the hushed tones of the cubicle bitching session or the blue streak of coarse language that often accompanies the post-morning meeting coffee run.

Nowhere else.

Your fellow humans will thank you.

- Now this is truly farcical: Cindy Sheehan is a finalist for the Nobel Peace Prize. In my view, if she wins, she'll be just below Jimmy Carter and right above Yasser Arafat on the list of worst recipients ever.

- Have you ever seen a review of something that is designed to make you hate the item being reviewed it but in actuality makes you want to consume it?

For instance, older Hammerheads will be able to think back to the mid-1970s when some horn-rimmed Birkenstock wearing college drop-out from Greenwich writing for the Village Voice went to see KISS at MSG and complained that there was too much pyro and not enough Joan Baez-like introspection.

You know the type.

As if you didn't want to get down there and snap up a pair of tix for your zit-faced, 14-year old, rollerskating ass after reading that.

I have the same feeling about this.

Wednesday digest II

- Although many observers are now suggesting that the North Korean nuclear test was a tempest in a teapot (with one Harvard scientist suggesting that they're "an embarassment to the nuclear club"), a few humble observations this evening.

First, North Korea has been at this for decades. What can really be done, outside of fomenting regime change through things like coups and assassinations, when a rogue state attempts to acquire nukes? Sanctions don't work because they punish the people who are unfortunate enough to live under such dictatorial governments. Bombing their facilities? Another option, yes, but in these hyper-sensitive times, what leader is actually going to step up to the plate to roll the dice on such a choice given how divided the West is on what is and what isn't morally justifiable?

What I would offer in terms of contextual pieces are both this short article by Andrew Coyne on where we stand now and then this more lengthy article by Robert Kaplan on the longer term view of things.

Perhaps, at the end of the day, we have to just get used to our enemies having the bomb. What that means more than anything, in my opinion, is that we need to be ready to close ranks if necessary to face a common threat if it ever gets to that point. Hopefully, it never will, but the security of the West depends on our willingness to defend a cohesive set of agreed-upon values should the sabre-rattling ever move beyond mere fireworks demonstrations by deranged psychotics like Kim Jong-Il. This could mean that we talk about issues like missile defense shields without chalking everything up to some sinister military-industrial complex arrangement; we talk about the virtue of military service without suspecting that those who join are somehow mentally unstable; and we recognize that providing security for the citizenry is truly the first role of government.

Anyways, that's my two cents' for one night.

Wednesday digest

- You knew it had to end sometime: Justin Hawkins, lead singer of The Darkness, has quit due to cocaine and alcohol addiction.

Could this mean that we'll be seeing Rockstar: The Darkness on CBS next fall?

- Why is this Ottawa city council so attached to the light rail project to the point that they're willing to lie about it?

- There's been a ton of ink spilled on the North Korean situation and I haven't had a chance to sift through it all yet, but one thing's clear: there are those will blame anything and everything they can on W. Last night on Coren, I even heard a "peace activist" say that if the President didn't include North Korea in the "axis of evil" line, they'd have given up their nukes by now. I love how the far left always ascribes rationality to the likes of Osama bin Laden and the Iranian leadership, among others. Then again, these are the same people that when you refer to the bloodthirsty, megalomaniac, insane, illegitimate, dictatorial son of the father who was really only marginally better, they aren't sure if you're referring to W. or Kim Jong-Il.

UPDATE: How long till some nutter suggests that this was arranged by the Administration to get more national-security minded Republicans to Congress elected next month?

UPDATE II: It's now been revealed that the victim of the crash was Yankees P Cory Lidle, but that doesn't take away from the likelihood that there were quite possibly millions of Michael Moore fans who had this accident explained as a Rovian plot quickly as it happened.

Tuesday digest

- Well, did they or didn't they? I don't know, but one thing is for sure: appeasement failed again.

I'm far from any kind of expert on Asia-Pacific geo-politics but at this stage of the game, I see three major players who can seize an opportunity here to exercise leadership and gain a considerable amount of prestige on the world stage: China, Japan and the United Nations.

I'll comment more as the week progresses.

- In Quebec, you can't even paint your garage without the state breathing down your neck.

- I love animals: pass the burgers.

- Mother Nature 1, Al Gore, 0.

- Why only the self-anointed elite and the most blindly partisan don't consider Fox News to be a serious player, here.

Monday digest

- Quiz time: Who said the following?

"Not only did the United States not lift the sanctions it had imposed on North Korea, it even increased the diplomatic pressure. Such pressure finally led North Korea to conduct its nuclear test. North Korea's nuclear test was a reaction to America's threats and humiliation."

1. Noam Chomsky
2. Hugo Chavez
3. Bill Maher
4. Iranian state radio

Answer here.

- Almost three out of four Brits now consider themselves as oppressed.

The doctor who authored the study says that depending on interpretation, 109% of the British population fall into the category of "oppressed" if you believe in the concept of "multiple discrimination".

Funny, that stat reminds me of another one I read about seven years ago when living in British Columbia: 104% of that province is under a native land claim.

(H/T: Fred.)

- Finally, I hope all my fellow Canadians had a great Thanksgiving. And to all of you who get so lathered up about the separation of church and state every time the Prime Minister says "God bless Canada", I hope you showed up at work today so as to put your money where your mouth is given that it's a Judeo-Christian holiday.

Sunday digest

- As this rally in Venezuela shows, perhaps Hugo isn't the strongman he'd like us to think he is.

- Hamas seems ready to go to war against their fellow Palestinians (Fatah) over the recognition of Israel.

Perhaps this is what needs to happen in order to clarify the future direction of the territories.

- Russian journalistic freedoms are in steep decline. Just yesterday, an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin was gunned down outside her apartment. It seems the Soviet mentality is far from extinct as this is only the latest in a series of unsolved mysteries.

As I've said before, it'll always be the G-7 to me.

- Fareed Zakaria asks an excellent question: if you were a Shiite, having suffered through a brutal insurgency and an incompetent government, would you give up your weapons?

- Much has been made of Bob Woodward's "State of Denial". I don't place a lot of faith in journalistic re-tellings of intimate conversations within the halls of power. Conversations occur in such a high-pressure and rapidly-moving environment that I doubt that they can be captured accurately. In addition, the journalist who purports to know the "inside story" can only have a bird's eye view at best of what really happens, especially when they're published in near-real time like Woodward so often does.

That being said, I still think that "Guests of the Ayatollah" is a must read.

- Two months before the mid-term elections, aren't there more important things to focus on than a gay Congressman preying on teens? Hell, I'm sure these shenanigans happen all the time in Ottawa (minus the gay angle). Sure, Hastert may have gotten a heads-up, and he deserves to be put under the microscope, but this is receiving far too much attention.

- Finally, why is it that every time Quebec society is accused of being less than completely modern, everyone feels the need to twist themselves into pretzel-like positions to deny it? As Coyne says, "I think they doth protest too much".

It also give credence to my belief that those who are the most intolerant of minorities often belong to minority groups themselves.

Live Review: Dilana and Magni, Thirsty Toad Pub, Ottawa, ON, October 7. 2006

Two of the top four finalists from this summer's hit series "Rock Star: Supernova" touched down in Ottawa on this beautiful, crisp fall afternoon for an acoustic gig.

The crowd was warmed up by four local acts: the Adams Avenue Band, who played a basic set of classic rock covers like Deep Purple, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Neil Young; Camp Best Friends, an extremely lame reggae act that may possibly be one of the worst groups I've ever seen (thanks in part to their cover of the Sesame Street theme song); the Channel One Band, which was your basic rock radio band, sort of like Collective Soul but with a heavier edge; and finally, the Sam Hill Band, which did covers of Ozzy, Nickelback, Journey, Bon Jovi and Whitesnake. (Naturally, I loved 'em.)

Shortly before 4, Magni and Dilana took the stage with the Sam Hill Band to play a couple of plugged-in numbers, including Magni's "Rebel Yell" (Billy Idol) and Dilana's "Can't Get Enough" (Bad Company), before taking things over themselves with only their voices and acoustic guitars. Fans of "Rock Star: Supernova" would find themselves familiar with much here, including versions of tunes such as Radiohead's "Creep", Stone Temple Pilots' "Plush", Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time", Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire", the Police's "Every Breath You Take", Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle", Live's "The Dolphin's Cry", and Nirvana's "Lithium", alongside Magni and Dilana's originals, respectively, from the show. The stage banter was easy, the mood casual, and the vibe loose. A highlight for me was when they played Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" and the audience was very appreciative of Dilana's take on hometown girl Alanis Morrisette's "Hand In My Pocket". Britney Spears' "Baby, One More Time" even got covered. The voices of these two "rockers" meld extremely well together and they put their own stamp on things, and even tunes that I pretty much hate like the Cranberries' "Zombie" and Tracy Bonham's "Mother Mother" went down easy given their treatment.

Watch for more reviews coming up over the next few weeks as other personalities from the show such as Storm Large and Ryan Star land at the Thirsty Toad.

Overall ratings:

Adams Avenue: 5/10
Camp Best Friends: 0/10
Channel One Band: 6/10
The Sam Hill Band: 8.5/10
Dilana and Magni: 9.25/10

Saturday digest

- Even though my wife is a proud Quebecoise, I complain a lot about how ridiculously onerous the requirements for bilingualism are in the Canadian public service. Although the Public Service Commission is now revising the testing format, problems will still remain because the whole requirement to speak with near-native fluency for not only executive jobs, but all posts at the executive minus 1 level, is still in place. As currently constructed, the policy of bilingualism in the civil service for executives is fraught with problems:

Anglophone bureaucrats complained for years about the oral testing, especially at the rigid C-level, required for bilingual jobs demanding the most fluency.

The problem, however, was thrown in the spotlight when the Chretien government made fluency in French and English mandatory for most executive jobs. The policy said the 4,000 executives in the core public service must be bilingual by next year or they will lose their jobs. The policy extends to all federal agencies that fall under the Official Languages Act.

With the pressure of that 2007 deadline, the demand for French training soared, as did the complaints about the number of senior bureaucrats repeatedly failing the oral French exam.

Stories abound about senior anglophone bureaucrats who are off the job for months, even years, undergoing language training because they have failed the oral test time after time. Most people fail a few times, but there are stories of some failing more than a dozen times.

The policy created such a stampede for training that the Canada School of Public Service stopped taking applicants about six months ago to clear the backlog. Bureaucrats also face a seven-week wait for testing.

Last year, the commission gave oral tests to nearly 23,000 bureaucrats, compared with 18,000 four years earlier. At the same time, the pass rates of anglophone bureaucrats taking the tests for C-level French -- the highest level -- was 35 per cent. It dipped to 32 per cent for executives.

Meanwhile, the pass rate was 72 per cent for francophones taking a similar English test and 68 per cent for francophone executives.

I'm sure there are many French Canadians who would agree that this is not a wise use of taxpayer dollars. It holds good people back by putting linguistic capacity in front of merit, makes the achievement of continuity in the workplace difficult at best, and causes difficulties in recruiting because those unilingual Anglophones who aspire to serve their country are discouraged by their inability to speak French, to mention briefly just a few of the negatives of this most political of rules. I'll be looking for the Conservative platform in the forthcoming federal election to recognize that the intent of the Official Languages Act was limited to allow for francophones to be served in their language of choice when dealing with the federal government, and did not and should not extend to 100% of manager/employee relationships in the federal workplace.

- This is one of the most naive editorials I've ever seen. NATO in Iraq? Please. I've seen clearer thinking in third-year International Institutions classes.

- I'd like to see less grandstanding and pissing inside the tent and more of this kid of red-meat fare from John McCain.

Friday digest

- You know why I find it hard to get revved up about Canadian politics? Here are a couple of reasons, First, we're subject to minority rule. Second, any frank analysis of the limitations of our biggest social program (by far) is met with hoots of derision, name-calling, and paranoid hand-wringing, making it basically impossible to deal with what is our most pressing issue as a country in any substantive fashion.

- An absolutely pathetic display last night by the Ottawa Senators in a 6-0 loss in their home opener to their rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Heartless, gutless performances like this are why I can't make an emotional investment in this team. The problem is that this franchise doesn't care enough about losing.

- Light it up, baby!

Thursday digest

- An informative editorial on the North Korean nuclear situation, here.

- Some troubling signs of further capitulation by British society to Islamist demands have emerged (see here and here). For an alarming look at how Britain (and Europe more broadly) is demonstrating nearly complete spinelessness by watering down its values, customs, traditions and expectations, read "Londonistan" by Melanie Phillips and "While Europe Slept" by Bruce Bawer.

- Holy rollers give me the creeps. It's not because of what they believe - I could really care less - but how they express those beliefs. The problem is that I don't think they co-exist easily with people who don't share their fervor. (How can I be myself around someone who thinks I'm committing a mortal sin against God when I crack open a frosty ale and kick back to some Sabbath?!?)

That being said, I think it's absolutely appalling how Trudeaupians are suggesting that Tory political hirees should be disqualified from employment because of their religious beliefs. For a party which wraps itself in the Charter so often and cries "discrimination" against every Liberal client group whenever they get the chance, it's totally hypocritical for them to suggest that the Charter's guarantees of religious freedom shouldn't apply to those who take a Biblically-oriented Christian view of the world. (Heck, even leaving religion aside for a minute, if we judged public office holders on their suitability to serve by whether or not they're pro-gay marriage, every Liberal MP from Scarborough wouldn't be allowed to sit in Parliament!)

Wednesday digest

- A happy 10th birthday to one of the leading lights of the vast right wing conspiracy.

- The forces of tolerance, diversity and respect for differences should welcome this proposed bill with open arms (that is, if they really believe what they say they do).

- At last week's "Take Back the Night March" in Ottawa, men who are against violence against women who wanted to participate were invited to do so at the end of the line. I think it's sad that even male relatives of female victims of violence have to literally take a back seat to those with a political agenda.

- Prosperous times at Gitmo.

- Don Rumsfeld: dove?

- John Howard: unsung hero.

- While North Koreans rely on grass to survive, their Marxist rulers are about to go nuclear. It's time for the US to put the heat on China because this is absolutely unacceptable.

- Finally, the NHL starts tonight. Although making Cup predictions this early is kind of a shot in the dark (with injuries, trades and other factors), my prediction for June, at least from here, is the same as this blogger's: SJ over Buffalo.

Tuesday digest

- So an elected official in the US abused his position of power by making sexual advances towards interns. What's the big deal? It's not like he lied under oath or anything.

- Thumbs up to John Baird for undertaking an audit of the federal government's $200-million contribution to the City of Ottawa's light-rail-boondoggle-in-the-making. If those who are in favour of the light-rail project are so convinced it is a good idea, then why fear a seemingly harmless value-for-money audit, municipal election or not? And for those who argue that the feds shouldn't interfere in the policy decisions made by another level of government, the next time Alberta or another province tries to innovate with health care delivery, I expect you'll be the first to complain should the federal health minister threaten to withhold funds unless that province sticks to the status quo.

- Seems union boss Buzz Hargrove isn't as interested in the environment as some of his fellow travellers on the left would hope him to be. When asked about the rumoured Tory plan to introduce a new Clean Air Act, he said,

"This idea of putting in stiff regulations that the companies have to meet or face a penalty is going to cause major damage to an industry that's already on its knees," Hargrove said in an interview.

"They're not going to do anything that's going to cause a detriment to Alberta, so if they hit Ontario I'm not sure that's the smartest political move," Hargrove said.

I'm not sure a former Svend Robinson campaign manager is well-placed to be giving anyone advice on strategy, not to mention the fact that his candidate in the last election, Paul Martin, proved to be the biggest bust in the history of the Liberal party. However, auto workers can take heart that their union leadership is wary of over-regulation. Heck, Buzz is already musing about the harm of government interference before he's even seen what the feds are proposing. Could this mean that after twenty years of towing the misguided, wrong-headed and extremely damaging socialist line, ol' Buzz is finally starting to get it?

- Is there any better indication of personality than a book collection, or for that matter, a lack thereof?

- Finally, I'd like to pay tribute to all Polish readers of this blog by way of this article.

(It's a slow news day. Sue me.)

Monday digest

- This CBC offering, "Little Mosque on the Prairie", has ratings juggernaut written all over it ... not! (Your tax dollars at work, people.)

- The Most Annoying Canadian competition is now open for voting. I'd have to add one person to the list, and that's Canada AM's Bev Thompson, who asked Calgary Herald journalist Don Martin this morning if he was able to find out if Belinda Stronach's breasts are real when doing research for his new book, titled "Belinda".

Please.

With talking heads like Bev in place to interpret current events and public affairs for Joe Q. Public, is it any wonder Canadians can't make a clear distinction between such complicated issues as the Afghan mission and the Bush presidency?

- The collapse of an overpass in Montreal over the weekend is deeply troubling. This tragedy is making international headlines as these deaths were totally avoidable. If I was a Montrealer today, I'd be embarassed. Shouldn't the most socialist political entity in all of North America, the one with the most extensive welfare state going, have better infrastructure at the very least? This is public sector failure at its worst. On top of being known continent-wide for empty sports stadiums and pro-Hezbollah rallies, the city now has this PR nightmare to deal with. Too bad you can't advertise the blue collar ballet because at this point, that's pretty much the only reason anyone would have to visit the place.

- Finally, because I'm as sick of him as you are, the last word on Bill Clinton, here.

Sunday digest

- Why were these 9/11 perpetrators seen laughing on a newly-released video filmed about 21 months prior to the attacks? Perhaps it's because they knew they could count on academic types to deflect blame away from bloodthirsty Islamists like themselves and towards American society itself once their agenda of mass murder was carried out.

- Al Gore says cigarettes are a contributing factor to global warming.

Uhh, OK, Al.

(I wonder if his ex-boss is about to give up cigars upon hearing this news?)

- If you're going to report on the contents of a leaked national security document, shouldn't you at least report it accurately?

- Kids who live in Kitchener, Ontario, my home town, better not need stitches today unless their parents want to drive to Toronto or London for treatment.

- Speaking of kids, the UK's Children's Minister (Labour) says that institutionalized childcare isn't a great idea for those under the age of two (at the very youngest). I've always wondered about the effects of dropping kids off to spend eight hours a day in the company of strangers before they even know how to say their own names.

Or is that too Ward Cleaver of me to even bring that up?

Film Review: "Jackass: Number Two" (2006)

Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Wee Man and the gang are back to help us all get in touch with our inner 12-year old in "Jackass: Number Two".

The most disgusting stunts in my opinion involve either horses in some way, shape or form, or someone's rectal cavity.

Not for those with weak stomachs.

Overall rating: 8/10